Aussie government says Teams ready for use with classified government data

Australian government agencies can use Microsoft Teams in Protected computing environments

Virtual security technology focuses on the Microsoft Teams logo as someone uses his mobile phone.
Thinkstock / Xresch / Microsoft

Microsoft’s Australian national security officer has revealed that the company’s collaboration platform has been certified for use with government data classified at the Protected level.

This means that both existing and new customers will be able to use it in Protected environments.

In April 2018, Microsoft originally had its Protected certification accepted, with 25 Azure services and 10 within Office 365 listed as suitable for use with Protected data on the Certified Cloud Services List (CCSL), which is maintained by the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

In a post on LinkedIn, Microsoft Australia national security officer Mark Anderson said that since then “numerous Australian government organisations have successfully deployed Office 365 into environments operating Protected level workloads”.

“This Office 365 announcement, builds on previous momentum which already resulted in 113 Azure platform services assessed to the Protected level, that already included Power Apps, Power BI, Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow), Intune and Microsoft Cloud App Security, creating the most comprehensive Protected assessed platform in Australia for securely empowering modern workforces,” Anderson wrote.

The Microsoft Teams certification follows a new assessment process for Office 365.

Anderson also advised that the software giant will soon be releasing configuration guidance for Protected Office 365 required for operating at this level.

Microsoft was the first global cloud provider to receive Protected level certification for its services.

Macquarie Telecom, Dimension Data, Sliced Tech and Vault Systems also have services listed on the CCSL for use with Protected data.

Amazon Web Services was granted Protected certification in January 2019 for 42 of its cloud services.

Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.

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