Azure Government
Updates for building solutions across Microsoft's Clouds for Government
Latest posts
Announcing general availability of Azure Confidential Computing (ACC) virtual machines for U.S. government environments
Government agencies have an increased need for secure, verifiable, and compliant cloud environments that adhere to data sovereignty regulations, operate in a Zero Trust framework, and help reduce exposure to insider threats. Today, Microsoft marks a major milestone in secure cloud innovation with the general availability of Azure Confidential Computing (ACC) for Secure Encrypted Virtualization – Secure Nested Paging (AMD SEV-SNP) based virtual machines across all U.S. government data classification levels. ACC VMs help protect sensitive workloads by using hardware-backed Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) t...
Announcing GPT-5.2 Availability in Azure for U.S. Government Secret and Top Secret Clouds
Today, we are excited to announce that GPT-5.2, Azure OpenAI’s newest frontier reasoning model, is available in Microsoft Azure for U.S. Government Secret and Top Secret cloud environments. This release marks another significant milestone in our mission to bring cutting edge AI capabilities to the nation’s most critical missions, securely, reliably, and at unprecedented speed. Frontier AI for the Nation’s Most Sensitive Workloads GPT-5.2 represents the next evolution of frontier level reasoning, planning, and problem solving. It brings improved contextual understanding, stronger multistep reasoning, and bet...
Unlocking New Possibilities: Microsoft Azure Hyperscale AI Computing with H200 GPUs Accelerates Secure AI Innovation in Azure for U.S. Government Secret and Top Secret
As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries and redefine the boundaries of innovation, Microsoft is proud to announce a leap forward in secure, high-performance computing in our Secret and Top Secret clouds: the integration of NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs into Azure’s AI infrastructure. This advancement helps unlock unprecedented generative AI capabilities, large language models (LLMs), and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, while meeting the stringent security and compliance demands of government and regulated industries. Built for the Future of AI The NVIDIA H200 GPU is engineered...
NASA’s Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) Data Now Available on Microsoft’s Planetary Computer
NASA’s vast archive of Earth observation data has long been a cornerstone for scientific discovery, environmental monitoring, and global sustainability efforts. Now, Microsoft has made it even easier for researchers, developers, and decision-makers to access and utilize this critical resource. Through a collaboration with NASA, the Harmonized Landsat and Sentinel-2 (HLS) dataset is now available on Microsoft Azure by using Microsoft’s Planetary Computer platform. Whether you’re a researcher looking to push the boundaries of climate science, an entrepreneur exploring new commercial applications, or a scientist ...
Azure OpenAI Service now authorized for all U.S. Government data classification levels
In the coming years, artificial intelligence will continue to be foundational to technical innovations for national security missions. Already, U.S. defense and intelligence organizations are using AI to enhance productivity, support decision making, and improve mission outcomes. Microsoft Azure is a backbone for this type of AI-driven work, supporting U.S. government missions with high resiliency, sophisticated capabilities, flexibility, and advanced security, designed to meet the stringent compliance requirements of the nation’s most sensitive data. Today, we are excited to share that Azure OpenAI Service ha...
Embracing Zero Trust: Never Trust, Always Verify
Microsoft's 2024 Digital Defense Report found that between July 2023 and July 2024, Microsoft customers faced an astounding 600 million attacks daily from both cybercriminals and nation-state actors. In this high-risk and rapidly evolving environment, individuals and organizations must not only strengthen digital defenses at every level but also foster a deep and enduring commitment to cybersecurity. Zero Trust offers a powerful and proactive architecture that redefines how organizations safeguard their data and systems. In 2021, the U.S. federal gov...
Successfully leveraging stakeholder feedback with Comment Analytics
Agencies in the U.S. federal government publish an average of 3,700 proposed rules yearly, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. With each proposed rule, agencies generally provide an opportunity for stakeholders and members of the public to submit comments before the rules are finalized. In some instances, thousands of comments are submitted, with no consistent government-wide process for intaking, analyzing and reporting the findings. A similar dynamic exists in the private sector, where organizations regularly solicit and analyze feedback and comments from customers to improve products ...
Unlocking new possibilities: Microsoft AI, database, and identity products receive authorization for Top Secret workloads
Microsoft’s leading AI capabilities are being used across industries to enhance data analysis, bolster security, and support key business priorities. Our U.S. Government customers and authorized partners consistently share that they are ready and eager to apply these same tools to serve their critical missions, and Microsoft is committed to delivering the breadth of our capabilities to them securely, responsibly and compliantly. These capabilities open new possibilities for government agencies to improve public services, streamline internal workflows, and support critical missions like disaster response and publi...
Azure OpenAI, including GPT-4o, Approved as a Service within the FedRAMP High Authorization for Azure Government
Editor’s note (September 3, 2024): this post has been updated to note that Azure OpenAI has been approved as a service within the DOD IL4 and IL5 Provisional Authorization for Azure Government by Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). As part of our ongoing effort to deliver the latest AI innovations to our government customers, our team is proud to announce several significant updates: Agencies requiring FedRAMP High Authorization are now able to access these leading AI capabilities within their Azure Government tenant, enabling secure and responsible access to the latest AI technologie...
Anticipating the future of physical systems design
Rising complexity, IP intensity and need for security of physical systems products requires a transformation in how to develop, manufacture and operate these systems. To meet time-to-market demands, software developers and hardware producers alike need optimized cloud + AI solutions that can provide higher levels of collaboration, higher protection and access to scalable computing resources, and the latest AI technologies. Additionally, government and industry require increasing validation of security and access controls to many physical systems that are key to commercial and national security. In March, Micro...
Microsoft AI Powering DARPA’s AI Cyber Challenge
One of the most promising applications of advanced AI is its ability to help combat cyberattacks from enhanced threat intelligence to AI-powered remediation. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched the AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) that will bring together the foremost experts in AI and cybersecurity to develop innovative solutions to safeguard critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Microsoft is proud to support this challenge by providing the participating teams with access to the latest AI models in Microsoft Azure. Innovation with AI and cybersecurity is even more important for ...
Beyond the hype: Part 1, How trustworthy AI empowers US Government agencies
Large language models’ (LLM) ability to transform mission workflows for US Government agencies is revolutionary and adoption is now starting to accelerate. As agencies begin to leverage LLMs, they unlock capabilities that promise to streamline processes and drive innovation forward. It also means that there’s more to be done in the near term to support the deployment of LLM applications. With this great potential comes great responsibility. From a national security perspective, LLMs are essential for readiness and resilience. Adversaries have already invested heavily in this technology, employing AI to power d...
Supporting Federal Agencies in Their Implementation of the Executive Order on AI – Part 1
The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Memorandum on Artificial Intelligence (M-24-10) (the “Memo”), part of the President’s comprehensive strategy on AI, outlines a structured approach for federal agencies to leverage artificial intelligence responsibly. The Memo provides direction that establishes a governance framework, fosters responsible AI innovation, and implements important risk management protocols. Microsoft values the Memo’s guidance that enables agencies to implement AI safely and effectively in fulfilling their missions, is committed to supporting these initiatives, and offers agencies the ca...
Azure Modeling and Simulation Workbench now in public preview
Mujtaba Hamid, GM Product Management, Strategic Missions & Technologies, Microsoft Prashant Varshney, Head of Product, Azure MSWB, Strategic Missions & Technologies, Microsoft Designing a silicon chip, an aircraft engine, an autonomous system, running sub-surface simulation for oil drilling, and other complex engineering systems are processes that typically include thousands of functions to verify, complex system interactions to optimize and multiphysics simulations to validate manufacturability. The need for close collaboration of developers from different disciplines, software and IP partners and ...
Comprehensive Document Translation Solution
Background and Use Cases Many of our customers have a requirement to translate documents from a variety of languages into a common language to ensure their mission success. These documents can be in a variety of formats, with unique page layouts and styles, and they may contain images with embedded text essential for a complete understanding by the reader. In many scenarios, there are large numbers of documents that must be translated quickly and securely to ensure mission success. Below are some common use cases for government organizations requiring document translation: The C...
Azure OpenAI service is now available in Azure Government
In October, I shared Microsoft’s commitment to bring the latest advances in AI to support critical government needs and further drive innovation for mission critical workloads. I am thrilled to announce Azure OpenAI Service is now available in Azure Government joining a comprehensive set of existing AI Platform of services that include Azure AI Services (formerly Azure Cognitive Services), Azure Machine Learning and Azure AI Search to advance AI capabilities in government. Azure OpenAI Service in Azure Government enables agencies with stringent security and compliance requirements to utilize this industry-lead...
How Microsoft is helping the Space Force become a Digital Service
Space is increasingly becoming a contested environment as nation-states compete to control this latest frontier. The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) is taking significant steps to modernize systems and capabilities in order to ensure service members have the best tools to protect and defend our interests in space. SSC recently renewed its partnership with Microsoft to develop the Integrated, Immersive, Intelligent Environment (I3E), a production follow-on to the Immersive Digital Facility (IDF) prototype successfully developed in 2023. I3E establishes an immersive environment to train, prepare, ...
Decoding AI: Part 8, Data governance and generative AI
Welcome to Part 8 of our Decoding AI: A government perspective learning series! In our previous blog, we re-introduced a technique that can help us achieve better boundary conditions and quality outputs: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with GAI. In this module, we wrap up with a culmination of all our learnings till date, and how they can benefit the US government and the public. We will also share some of the best practices and tips for using generative AI, and how to avoid or mitigate some of the potential risks or challenges. — Kent Cunningham, Miri Rodriguez, Siddhartha Chaturvedi Why generative AI ma...
Decoding AI: Part 7, Retrieval Augmented Generation with GAI
Welcome to Part 7 of our Decoding AI: A government perspective learning series! In our previous blog, we discussed how to create boundary conditions in generative AI, the topic on everybody’s mind, as we explore the boundaries (pardon the pun) of generative AI - the constraints or rules that guide the outputs of these technologies, and why they are essential for the US government. In this module, we re-introduce a technique that can help us achieve better boundary conditions and quality outputs: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with GAI. — Siddhartha Chaturvedi, Miri Rodriguez The topical relevance of RAG ...
Decoding AI: Part 6, Creating boundary conditions in generative AI
Welcome to Part 6 of our Decoding AI: A government perspective learning series! In our previous blog, we discussed the importance of trust in AI, especially for large language models and generative AI. In this module, we dive deeper into how to create boundary conditions in generative AI, the topic on everybody’s mind, as we explore the boundaries (pardon the pun) of Generative AI - the constraints or rules that guide the outputs of these technologies, and why they are essential for the US government. — Siddhartha Chaturvedi, Miri Rodriguez What are boundary conditions and why do they matter? Boundary condi...
Decoding AI: Part 5, Navigating trust in the age of large language models and generative AI
Greetings and welcome to Part 5 of our Decoding AI: A government perspective learning series! Previously, we went through the expansive capabilities of multimodal AI, spanning sectors from agriculture to urban living. In this module, we pivot to a matter of paramount importance: Trust in AI, with a focus on large language models and generative AI. — Keith Bauer, T’Neil Walea, Miri Rodriguez, Siddhartha Chaturvedi The central role of trust in AI Trust is not a single feeling, but a complex and dynamic phenomenon. It shapes how we perceive and interact with the world around us, including the artificial AI tec...
Delivering Cutting-Edge AI Solutions to US Government
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform nearly every sector of the economy and society. For U.S. government agencies, the latest advances in AI offer a unique opportunity to optimize their operations, deliver better user experiences and enhance national security. Microsoft is innovating in AI to deliver technology for the public sector. As we embark on this new way to work, we are committed to delivering transformational AI innovations responsibly to drive government missions, aligned to the goals of the White House’s recent executive order for safe, secure and trustworthy AI. We began enab...
Decoding AI: Part 4, The age of multimodal AI
Welcome to Part 4 of our Decoding AI: A government perspective learning series! In our previous dialogue, we unraveled the complexities of semantic search and generative AI and how they are transforming public governance. In this module, let’s shift gears and focus on the dawn of a new AI era: multimodal sensing. This compelling advancement merges multiple sensory data—think vision, sound, text—into an insightful, unified whole data set. — Siddhartha Chaturvedi, Miri Rodriguez Making sense of different senses In our day-to-day lives, we seldom rely on just one sense to make decisions or understand our envir...
Decoding AI: Part 3, Making data speak human
Welcome back to Part 3 of our Decoding AI: A Government Perspective series. In our last installment, we explored the nuanced landscape of anomaly detection and how it intersects with generative AI in shaping the future of public governance. As promised, today's dialogue will pivot toward semantic search and its role in converting complex data into easily interpretable, actionable insights. – Siddhartha Chaturvedi, Miri Rodriguez Semantic search: A cognitive leap beyond keywords For a long time, traditional search engines have been revered for their impressive ability to sift through and parse millions of d...
Decoding AI: Part 2, From anomalies to action
Welcome to Part 2 of our Decoding AI: A Government Perspective learning series. In the previous module, we embarked on a fascinating journey into the world of generative AI. As we progress, our aim is to delve deeper into the ways AI can shape the future of federal processes and governance. Today, we will shed light on the indispensable role of learning patterns and anomalies, and their significance in the world of AI. – Miri Rodriguez, Siddhartha Chaturvedi How does AI think? Artificial intelligence finds patterns in a way similar to human cognition. In essence, AI learns from data by guessing the chances and...
Decoding AI: Part 1, Introduction to generative AI
Welcome to Part 1 of our Decoding AI: A government perspective learning series, where over the course of eight modules, you will learn about the emerging field of generative AI and what this technology can mean for government. This series will not only help you understand how generative AI can help increase your organization’s productivity, but also how it can be used to supercharge innovation in incredible new ways. Over the course of this series, we’ll be dissecting complex themes like AI education, public discourse, sensory perception & robotics, AI governance and more. And we’ll be interacting with you th...
Microsoft Azure OpenAI Approved as a Service within the FedRAMP High Authorization for Azure Commercial
Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI service is now included within the US Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Authorization for Azure Commercial. This Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) within the existing FedRAMP High Azure Commercial environment was approved by the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB). This milestone follows our previously announced solution enabling Azure Government customers to access Azure OpenAI Service in the commercial environment. With this latest update, agencies requiring FedRAMP High can directly access Azure OpenAI from Azure commercial. Sign up here...
Azure Data Transfer authorized for Azure Government Secret and generally available for critical mission data types
Today, we are announcing the Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level 6 (IL6) provisional authorization (PA) for Microsoft’s cross domain solution service, Azure Data Transfer. The IL6 PA provides authorization file transfer of software artifacts, associated files, and other restricted use data types, as well as Microsoft 365 documents and images. Microsoft is the first cloud service provider to obtain this authorization while meeting National Cross Domain Strategy & Management Office’s Raise the Bar compliance requirements. Azure Data Transfer’s capability to move software artifacts and restricted use ...
Azure Virtual Desktop is now generally available in Azure Government Secret
Today we’re announcing that Azure Virtual Desktop received Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level 6 (IL6) accreditation and is now available to all customers in Azure Government Secret. Azure Virtual Desktop enables government agencies to host secure, compliant, mission-critical workloads in Azure. Whether a government agency requires a mission-focused desktop or an enterprise-wide desktop environment, Azure Virtual Desktop provides a scalable solution that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and other Microsoft offerings. About Azure Virtual Desktop Azure Virtual Desktop provides secure, remote d...
How to use Azure-SSIS integration runtime to run SSIS packages in Azure and Azure Government
Integration runtime for Azure-SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) makes it possible to simply run SSIS packages in Azure and Azure Government. The feature provides similar functionality and behavior to when you schedule SSIS packages by using SQL Server Agent in your on-prem environment. Azure Data Factory provides the engine to execute packages instead of SQL Server Integration Services. With this feature, you can run SSIS packages that are stored in SSISDB in a SQL Managed Instance, or a file system like Azure Files. The two additional components that are required for this feature along with Azure SQL Man...
Azure Government Secret expands DoD IL6 services, receives highest level information categorization
In our previous blog post, we shared that Azure Government Secret achieved Provisional Authorization (PA) at Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level 6 (IL6) in addition to Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 503 Authorization to Operate (ATO) with facilities accredited at ICD 705. Today, we’re announcing that Azure Government Secret DoD IL6 PA was expanded to include more than 60 cloud services in authorization scope and highest level information categorization as High Confidentiality, High Integrity, and Customer-determined Availability (H-H-x). Azure Government Secret is the first and only classified cloud ...
Defending Federal Systems with the Microsoft Sentinel Threat Analysis & Response Solution
This blog is jointly authored by Lili Davoudian, Senior Product Manager, Cloud & AI Security; Ashwin Patil, Senior Security Researcher, Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center; and Ron Marsiano, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Sentinel. With the growing need for federal agencies to evaluate coverage of respective threat detection capabilities along with the need for adaptive solutions to evaluate and recommend analytics coverage within the MITRE ATT&CK® framework – Microsoft now offers a singular place to manage your security coverage with the MITRE ATT&CK® blade. Threat hunting programs also req...
Announcing the Microsoft Sentinel: NIST SP 800-53 Solution
Today, we’re announcing the Microsoft Sentinel: NIST SP 800-53 Solution which enables compliance teams, architects, SecOps analysts, and consultants to understand their cloud security posture related to Special Publication (SP) 800-53 guidance issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This workbook is designed to augment staffing through automation, visibility, assessment, monitoring, and remediation. Content features includes an intuitive user interface, policy-based assessments, control cards for guiding alignment with control requirements, alerting rules to monitor configuration d...
Jumpstart threat intelligence programs with the Microsoft Sentinel Threat Intelligence Workbook
We’re releasing the next evolution of the Microsoft Sentinel Threat Intelligence Workbook. This solution provides enhanced capabilities in indicator ingestion and indicator search, empowering organizations to centralize and correlate threat data across their workloads and operationalize these insights for investigation and response. As a result, this workbook serves as a starting point for building threat intelligence programs. For example, Indicator Search provides a free-text search of indicators (IP address, file, hash, email address, username) to determine: Learn more by watching the d...
Securing Defense Industrial Base workloads with the Microsoft Sentinel: CMMC 2.0 Solution
Since its first release in 2020, the Microsoft Sentinel Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification workbook has remained one of the most popular content packages for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) customers in Microsoft Sentinel. Today, we’re announcing the next evolution of this content in the Microsoft Sentinel: Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 Solution. This empowers governance and compliance teams to design, build, monitor, and respond to CMMC 2.0 requirements across Microsoft, third party, hybrid, on-premises, and multi-cloud workloads. This content features a redesigned user interface...
What’s new: Microsoft Sentinel Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) Solution update
This blog is co-authored by TJ Banasik, CISSP-ISSEP, ISSAP, ISSMP, Principal Product Manager, Microsoft Cloud & AI Security. With demand continuing to grow for federal agencies to build Zero Trust security principles seamlessly into their existing architectures, we’re announcing the Microsoft Sentinel Zero Trust (Trusted Internet Connections 3.0) Solution, a powerful tool to help agencies assess, monitor, and enhance security posture relative to zero trust practices. The next-evolution of the Microsoft Sentinel: Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) Workbook is the result of considerable positive feedback and valuable s...
Join us: Art of the possible: AI in government – March 30, 2022
We invite you this month to RSVP and join the Azure Government user community as we explore the “Art of the possible: AI in government” Wednesday, March 30 from 6 – 7 p.m. ET during a virtual meetup where we’ll discuss strategies, best practices and the latest tech driving exciting AI for good projects in government.
Azure export controls white paper updates
The Azure export controls white paper offers a brief overview of US, UK, EU, and Japan export control laws and regulations as they may apply to customers using Microsoft Azure cloud services. Also provided is some general guidance concerning the considerations that Azure and Azure Government customers should bear in mind when assessing their
What’s new: Azure Security Benchmark Workbook update
Today we’re announcing the next iteration of the Azure Security Benchmark (ASB) Workbook, which provides a single pane of glass for gathering and managing data to address ASB control requirements.
Microsoft Sentinel: Maturity Model for Event Log Management Solution now in public preview
See how agencies ease the task of aligning with federal cybersecurity directives with the Microsoft Sentinel: Maturity Model for Event Log Management Solution now available in public preview in Azure and Azure Government.
Solution accelerator for knowledge mining available for Azure Government
US government agencies can jumpstart their development projects to help meet mission demands with Azure Cognitive Search using our Knowledge Mining Solution Accelerator for Azure Government. Knowledge mining is an emerging category in artificial intelligence (AI) using a combination of AI services to drive content understanding over vast amounts of unstructured, semi-structured, and structured data allowing organizations to deeply understand their information, explore it, uncover insights, and find relationships and patterns at scale With every government organization having volumes of data, the Knowledge M...
Protecting federal information systems and critical infrastructure with the Microsoft Sentinel: IT/OT Threat Monitoring Solution
Also contributing to this blog are TJ Banasik, CISSP-ISSEP, ISSAP, ISSMP, Senior Program Manager, and Katie Thomas, Program Manager, of Microsoft Cloud & AI Security. Security teams traditionally have not had tooling nor the expertise to provide them with visibility to monitor Internet of Things (IoT) / Operational Technology (OT) networks for vulnerabilities. As a result, IoT/OT security risks have traditionally been overlooked. This poses a great risk to organizations, as we see adversaries moving laterally from IT to OT with ease. In this video, we discuss the Microsoft Sentinel: IT/OT Threat Monitoring...
Building and monitoring Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) workloads for federal information systems with Microsoft Sentinel
See how to build and monitor Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) workloads for Federal Information Systems with the Microsoft Sentinel solution.
Azure Red Hat OpenShift now in preview in Azure Government
Today we’re announcing the public preview release of Azure Red Hat OpenShift in Azure Government. With this release, we will be bringing the world class Azure infrastructure with leading enterprise Kubernetes platform as a jointly operated and supported service for Azure Government customers.
Join us Oct. 27, 2021: Key strategies + tech for agencies to improve the nation’s cybersecurity
We invite you to RSVP and join us Wednesday, Oct. 27, from 6 – 7 p.m. ET, to hear speakers from government and industry discuss strategies and demo technologies that will help agencies improve their cybersecurity during a virtual Azure Government user community meetup.
Defending federal information systems with Azure Sentinel threat intelligence workbook
In this blog with video, Lili Davoudian and TJ Banasik, CISSP-ISSEP, ISSAP, ISSMP, discuss and demonstrate how Azure Sentinel threat intelligence workbook can help you start building threat intelligence programs by providing the capability to ingest and correlate threat data in cloud workloads.
Accredited for Azure Government Secret: Azure Stack Hub, Azure Stack Edge, Azure Data Box
Today we’re announcing the Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level 6 (IL6) accreditation for Azure Government Secret of several mission-critical device services for Azure Stack Hub, Azure Stack Edge, and Azure Data Box.
Join us: AI in government
Join us Sept. 29 to hear speakers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center discuss some of the innovative AI projects they’re driving; and also from Microsoft on AI strategies, best practices, and the latest technologies that will enable the executive order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence at the Azure Government meetup.
Announcing private preview of authorized DoD Cloud Infrastructure as Code for Azure
To help Department of Defense (DoD) customers keep pace with mission demands, we’re announcing the private preview of DoD Cloud Infrastructure as Code (IaC) for Azure – a set of preauthorized baselines that build standard environments in Azure Government to accelerate DoD adoption of cloud services.
New and updated regulatory compliance policy initiatives for NIST, FedRAMP, DoD in Azure, Azure Government
Azure Global recently released a new regulatory compliance policy initiative for NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5. This policy initiative includes more than 250 policies aligned to 800-53 Rev. 5 controls and helps customers establish guardrails to manage their compliance with specific NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 controls.
US Cybersecurity Executive Order: Zero Trust architecture for critical infrastructure
The US Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity requires US Federal Government organizations modernize cybersecurity and adopt a Zero Trust architecture. This is especially urgent for the 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Organizations in the critical infrastructure sectors are responsible for systems considered so vital to the US their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on the security, economy, and public health of the nation. In these critical scenarios where seconds matter, Microsoft is un...
STIG solution templates now available in Azure Government Secret for Windows, Linux, and more
Today we’re announcing that our Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) solution templates are now also available in Azure Government Secret, enabling customers to build, host, and transform their applications faster across Impact Level 6 on secure and compliant infrastructure.
Azure Form Recognizer now processes IDs in Azure Government
Form Recognizer can analyze and extract information from government-issued identification documents (IDs) using its prebuilt IDs model to help reduce the time, complexities and errors that come with manually extracting data from various ID types and formats.
Accelerating authorization: DoD mission owners can now coordinate with Microsoft on eMASS
The Department of Defense (DoD) has approved Microsoft access to the Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS). This allows DoD mission owners to coordinate with Microsoft on access to the Azure security authorization packages, including control inheritance and control implementation details.
Video | Better together for US government: Azure Security Center + Azure Sentinel
In this video, Lili Davoudian and TJ Banasik, CISSP-ISSEP, ISSAP, ISSMP, discuss and demonstrate how when coupled, Azure Security Center and Azure Sentinel create an integrated end-to-end detection, investigation, and response platform for protecting cloud workloads.
Join us: What’s next? Emerging tech impacting US government
We invite you to RSVP and join the Azure Government User Community Wednesday, May 26 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST for a meetup on “What’s next? Emerging tech impacting US government” via Teams Live.
SQL Server 2019 on RHEL8 container now available on Iron Bank-DoD’s Centralized Artifacts Repository
SQL Server container images can now be used in highly-controlled environments, such as federal government, DoD, and Defense Industrial Base organizations, where the prerequisite to leverage any container image is that it must be hardened and accredited. To get started, you can download the container image from Iron Bank.
Meeting CMMC Level 3 on Azure
The Azure team just released a new CMMC Level 3 initiative for Azure Policy and a corresponding blueprint sample. These preview releases are available in Azure and Azure Government. In this blog post we break down the releases and how customers can use these tools to accelerate CMMC compliance in Azure.
Zero Trust architecture in Azure for government
The Azure Sentinel: Zero Trust (TIC 3.0) Workbook provides an overlay of Microsoft offerings to Zero Trust models, measurable over time via visualizations. Implementers, SecOps analysts, assessors, security and compliance decision makers, and MSSPs can leverage this capability to build, design, and monitor cloud security architectures.
Video: Microsoft Azure and Kubernetes—Managed Kubernetes at hyperscale for government
Brendan Burns, Microsoft CVP of Azure Compute and Co-Founder of Kubernetes, presents at the United States Air Force Software Officer, Nicolas Chaillan’s, Ask Me Anything (AMA) series on DevSecOps for DoD.
April 28: Top cloud cyber defense tactics for government
Today’s threat landscape continues to grow in complexity, sophistication, and frequency. As advanced attacks emerge, it is critical for government agencies to keep pace with actionable tips and the latest technology to protect your enterprise. We invite you to join us to learn new cloud cyber defense preparation tactics for government.
Announcing Azure STIG solution templates to accelerate compliance for DoD
Today we’re announcing the availability of Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) solution templates for both Windows and Linux on the Azure Marketplace (commercial) and Azure Government Marketplace.
Join us: From code to ATO—How to accelerate deployments in government
Learn how key DevOps practices such Infrastructure as Code (IaC), continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) and automated testing, allow you and your team to develop and release changes much faster, with higher confidence.
Azure Government expands compliance coverage with 142 services now FedRAMP High
Microsoft now has 142 services covered by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Provisional Authorization to Operate (P-ATO) for Azure Government. We continue to maintain FedRAMP High P-ATOs issued by FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board (JAB) for both Azure and Azure Government while bringing you more services at FedRAMP High than any other cloud provider. Azure Government provides the highest level of security, protection, and compliance services, delivering on our ongoing investments in commercial parity and our commitment to providing the most secure and compliant cloud across a...
New Azure Security Benchmark Foundation helps organizations embrace zero trust
Disclaimer: Customers are wholly responsible for ensuring their own compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Information provided in this post does not constitute legal advice, and customers should consult their legal advisors for any questions regarding regulatory compliance. To help organizations stay secure in a zero trust environment, we’re announcing the release of a new sample blueprint, Azure Security Benchmark Foundation, which provides a set of baseline infrastructure patterns to assist in building a secure and compliant Azure environment. Available in Azure and Azure Government, the Az...
Securing your agency’s remote workforce for today and beyond
With the flip of a switch, COVID-19 accelerated digital transformation for many agencies to empower an expanded remote workforce to deliver on their mission. As we approach a year of that switch, along with the hope of returning to “normal,” securing the remote workforce remains a top concern. With that in mind, we invite you to RSVP and join us for a virtual Azure Government Meetup, Securing your agency’s remote workforce for today and beyond, on Wednesday, Feb. 24 from 6 p.m. ET – 7 p.m. ET hosted on Teams Live. During this event, which is free and open to the public, our speakers will share their experti...
120 Azure Government services now authorized for DoD IL5 workloads
We continue to drive expansion of our support for Department of Defense Security Requirements Guide (DoD SRG) Impact Level 5 (IL5) across all Azure Government regions. Our latest addition of 23 new services brings a total of 120 services authorized for IL5 workloads in Azure Government – more than any other cloud provider. These services include a broad range of IaaS and PaaS capabilities to enable mission owners to do more, faster. Mission owners can choose from multiple regions across the country and benefit from decreased latency, expanded geo-redundancy, and a range of options for backup, recovery, and cos...
Announcing compliance hub for Azure
To help customers meet their own compliance obligations across regulated industries and markets worldwide, Microsoft Azure maintains the largest compliance portfolio in the industry both in terms of breadth (total number of offerings), as well as depth (number of customer-facing services in assessment scope). A new Azure compliance hub page provides easy access to this information. Azure is a multi-tenant hyperscale cloud platform that is available or announced to customers in 60+ regions worldwide. To find out which Azure services are available in which regions, explore the Azure global infrastructure product...
Join us Jan. 27: Mastering cloud fundamentals for government in 2021
The accelerated adoption of cloud last year due to COVID-19 was phenomenal; advancing IT modernization for many organizations while also bringing a wealth of lessons learned. While much progress was made, many government agencies find there can still be challenges to getting started with cloud. With that in mind, we invite you to RSVP and join us to kick off the New Year learning how agencies can master cloud fundamentals for 2021 during an Azure Government meetup on Wednesday, Jan. 27 from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. ET hosted on Teams Live. During this event, which is free and open to the public, our speakers will sh...
Quickly deploy DoD STIG-compliant images and visualize compliance using Azure
This blog is authored by members of Microsoft’s Government Cybersecurity, Azure Global Critical Infrastructure team: Michele Myauo, Principal Engineering Manager; Adam Dimopoulos, Senior Program Manager; and Shawn Gibbs, Senior Program Manager. At Microsoft, our security and compliance story is one of our greatest differentiators. Microsoft recognizes the criticality of security compliance accreditations for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and Department of Defense (DoD) customers. Maintaining Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) compliance is critical and o...
Join the meetup: Achieving speed to capability in government – Dec. 2, 2020
Today’s mission speed continues to outpace government’s ability to deliver modern capabilities to end users. To keep pace with mission demands, agencies are reimagining their IT efforts including leveraging powerful technologies such as continuous software deployment, container management, automated machine learning, and serverless PaaS. To hear about the latest trends, tools, and tech empowering government, we invite you to RSVP and join us for an Azure Government Meetup, Achieving speed to capability in government, on Wednesday, Dec. 2 from 6:30 p.m. ET – 8 p.m. ET hosted on Teams Live. During this event,...
Resources to accelerate your CMMC journey
We’re actively building out our program by developing resources for both partners and Defense Industrial Base (DIB) companies to leverage in their Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) journey. In a recent blog, Richard Wakeman, senior director of Aerospace & Defense for Microsoft Azure Global, shares current resources to help you get started and accelerate your CMMC journey. While these tools cannot guarantee a positive CMMC adjudication, they may assist candidate organizations by improving their CMMC posture going into a formal CMMC review in accordance with CMMC Accreditation Body (AB) stand...