SecureIT Awarded Cloud Security Contract from EDC

To make sure the organization complies with its federal contracts and grants, the Education Development Center (EDC) has enlisted the help of SecureIT, a provider of cybersecurity services for government agencies, corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

The EDC, a not-for-profit group focused on improving education, health and international development for public and private agencies, is working with SecureIT to develop a cloud-based IT strategy to meet its security obligations, while also supporting the group’s business goals including increased mobility and resource efficiency, according to Jim Graham, senior vice president of federal programs at SecureIT.

“Cloud computing and the proliferation of mobile devices in the workplace has created tremendous opportunities for businesses and federal government agencies,” Graham said in a statement. “It is wise for organizations to create proactive enterprise strategies that ensure adequate and appropriate security protections while maintaining flexible and adaptable solutions as technologies continue to evolve. It is our job to help agencies, corporations and [not-for-profits] to harness these opportunities while managing security risks and compliance obligations.”

Based on the terms of the contract, SecureIT will develop a plan and assist the EDC to implement the solution to meet National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) requirements that leverages the EDC’s existing automated capabilities, both internally and from outside providers.

The solution will leverage a cloud environment authorized under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), which was established to provide a standard approach to assessing and authorizing cloud computing services and products.

The mandatory program is intended to ensure cloud services for the federal government meet cybersecurity parameters. The General Services Administration (GSA (News - Alert)) gave its first authorization to Autonomic Resources’ ARC-P, a community cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service based in North Carolina.

Before the company was authorized, it had to go through a thorough review process from a cybersecurity consultancy firm, the Veris Group. Once these controls are tested and verified for cloud services, it will give government agencies the authority to use ARC-P.

IT security is one of the most talked about topics in the industry today. The upcoming SecureIT conference, which will be held on July 23, is a place where IT professionals can learn about industry trends and the best practices for assuring their most critical information and communications assets are safe and secure, anywhere, any time.

For IT professionals, operational realities have gotten exponentially more complicated than they were just two years ago when they were already impressive. For example, the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon has ratcheted up risk levels in the enterprise along with the complexities of managing them. The one-day event will bring together leading industry experts, solutions providers and end users to explore how to protect and defend your organization.