Industry's First Homeland Security Cloud(TM) Announced by NC4
NC4's Cloud Computing Solution Supports More Than 80,000 Users and 2,500 Homeland Security Communities
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- NC4 Inc., the leader in Situational Readiness solutions, announced the industry's first Homeland Security Cloud(TM) (HSC) solution. The NC4 HSC solution supports the communities securing our nation by enabling them with unmatched applications for situational awareness, emergency management, law enforcement and secure communication and collaboration. The technological foundation and applications of the NC4 Homeland Security Cloud(TM) have been proven in actual operation by more than 80,000 discerning federal, state and local users who see application and data security as paramount.
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"The number one concern expressed when considering the move to a cloud infrastructure is security," said George Johnson, NC4 Chief Security Officer. "NC4's DARPA roots are deep and strong, and we have built our cloud infrastructure with security as the top priority every step of the way. Our need-to-know visibility and access models, in addition to our support of multiple two-factor authentication mechanisms including RSA SecurID are just two examples of our unwavering commitment to security. The bottom line is that homeland security professionals do not need to wait for cloud computing solutions to be hardened. NC4's proven, secure Homeland Security Cloud solution is available today."
NC4 also announced that it will host a series of half-day seminars on the special security and reliability requirements for cloud computing in the homeland security sector. The seminars will be held in Arlington, VA on December 8, 9 and 10, 2009.
Background - Cloud Computing and Government
Over the last few years cloud computing has been touted as a way to lower the cost and complexity of computing by providing applications that run on the Internet instead of on servers or computers in a home or office environment. Picking up on this trend, on September 15 of this year, the U.S. Federal Government announced an "application store" through which federal departments could use cloud or Internet-based solutions for office and business productivity purposes and for social networking.
Homeland Security and Cloud Computing
The size and complexity of homeland security projects often result in IT implementations that are very expensive, take a long time to complete and often support and reinforce silo organizations. Cloud computing offers the promise of lower cost and faster implementation to help support our nation's domestic security challenges. A key opportunity is that homeland security cloud-based applications have the potential to bridge organizational silos by providing a level of information-sharing and collaboration that spans both intra and intergovernmental organizations at the federal, state and local levels and in private sector organizations that support critical infrastructure. Secure communication and collaboration, situational awareness and emergency response are some of the areas that can benefit from cloud computing. Although many corporate and government department managers and users are already concerned about the security and availability issues of general cloud or Internet-based computing, these issues are absolutely critical for homeland security applications.
NC4 Homeland Security Cloud(TM)
NC4's Homeland Security Cloud solution includes unmatched applications for situational awareness, emergency management, law enforcement and secure communication and collaboration. HSC currently supports more than 2,500 homeland security communities with a total of more than 80,000 users. Utilizing standards-based connections including CAP, EDXL, NIEM and GFIPM Identity Management, NC4 has leveraged its DARPA heritage to create world-class security as the foundation for its Homeland Security Cloud, achieving multiple certification and accreditations including the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).
NC4's Homeland Security Cloud supports communities focused on securing our nation by enabling organizations to virtualize information and document management, business process management, community management and security management within a single, secure, cloud infrastructure. NC4's Homeland Security Cloud hosts data in a facility built to Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) standards and is certified for Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), For Official Use Only (FOUO) and Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES) data, and that meets Director of Central Intelligence Directive (DCID) 6/9 guidelines.
NC4 provides a number of key Homeland Security Cloud solutions including:
- Law enforcement solutions - NC4 currently has more than 11,000 registered law enforcement personnel at the federal, state and local levels utilizing a CUI-based secure information-sharing and collaboration cloud. CyberCop is one example of NC4's cloud solution with more than 7,000 law enforcement participants.
- Emergency management solutions - For years, NC4 has been a leading provider of both internally-hosted and cloud-based emergency and incident management solutions at the federal, state and local levels, with cloud implementations in several Urban Area Security Initiatives (UASIs) nationwide. NC4 has supported several Olympics worldwide, as well as numerous National Special Security Events (NSSE).
- Secure communication and collaboration solutions - NC4 supports many federal agencies with highly secure, cloud-based communication and collaboration workspaces for mission-focused applications.
- Situational awareness solutions - NC4 provides U.S. and global situational awareness cloud solutions for federal, state and local agencies as well as for private sector organizations. NC4 operates two 24x7 redundant incident monitoring centers, collecting all-hazards information from more than 2,000 sources. Relevant information is culled and alerts distributed in real-time, heightening an organization's readiness to respond to risks. These alerts can act as "trip wires" for organizations to begin further analysis, or to initiate emergency response or other public safety responses. In the first half of 2009, NC4 tracked more than 20,000 unique incidents worldwide.
As pressure to improve security in the U.S. continues, NC4 has been working on developing other cloud-based solutions in the areas of cyber security, universal GIS clients and infrastructure readiness.
For a more complete overview of the NC4 Homeland Security Cloud solution visit www.nc4.us.
NC4 Homeland Computing Cloud Seminars
NC4 President Jim Montagnino explained: "As homeland security organizations evaluate the suitability and safety of cloud computing, being able to entrust sensitive information to the cloud is critical from both a security and availability point of view. More than 2,500 different communities have grown to trust the integrity of NC4's Internet-based applications for homeland security. The seminars we are hosting December 8, 9 and 10 will provide attendees with a better understanding of the issues and opportunities for using cloud computing for homeland security, and the leading-edge NC4 solutions available to them." To learn more about NC4's Homeland Security Cloud seminars and to register for one of our seminars, visit www.nc4.us/HSC_Conference.php.
About NC4
NC4 delivers situational readiness solutions that empower government and business with accurate, timely and secure information to manage risks. NC4 solutions are used in the public sector by emergency management providers, federal, state and local agencies, and law enforcement, and in the private sector by companies in such industries as financial services, corporate travel, high-tech, insurance, supply chain management, aerospace and defense, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. NC4 takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to both security and crisis management, by providing: situational awareness both for external and internal incident/event monitoring; situational response / emergency management; and secure communication and collaboration. For information about NC4, visit www.nc4.us or call toll-free, 1-877-624-4999.
SOURCE NC4
