Canadian agencies plead US ‘cloud’ storage of supportive information with Microsoft
Two supervision agencies have been assembly with Microsoft Inc. to plead ways to store tip Canadian information on American servers, a magnitude specifically banned by emperor policy.
Microsoft’s talks this year with Shared Services Canada and a Communications Security Establishment reviewed either supportive information about Canadians and other trusted matters could be firmly encrypted on American “cloud” services.
A May 2017 memo to a arch handling officer of Shared Services Canada (SSC) says a discussions examined in prejudiced how to strengthen Canada’s supervision by insulating a information from authorised final underneath a USAÂ Patriot Act, that army firms to spin over trusted information to American law coercion if demanded.
Treasury Board President Scott Brison has pronounced a new process on cloud computing is entrance after this year. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
“This chit is to yield we with an refurbish on a feasibility of Microsoft – or any other cloud businessman – to reason Government of Canada encrypted information in such a demeanour that Shared Services Canada binds and owns a decryption keys and is means to entrance a information while a businessman is not means to entrance to a data,” says a memo.
A duplicate of a heavily censored ask was performed by CBC News underneath a Access to Information Act.
A spokesperson for Shared Services Canada, Monika Mazur, did not respond directly when asked either a IT group was still deliberation unfamiliar cloud services for supportive supervision data, though referred to a emperor ask that forbids it.
Reside in Canada
Ottawa’s IT Strategic Plan 2016-2020 forbids storing tip information outward Canada’s borders: “To safeguard Canada’s emperor control over a data, departments and agencies will adopt a process that all supportive or stable information underneath supervision control will be stored on servers that reside in Canada.”
Some low-risk Government of Canada information already reside on American and other non-Canadian “cloud” servers, including information for web pages with a Canada.ca suffix, that yield usually ubiquitous information. Amazon Web Services in a United States, for example, hosts such Canadian pages.
The formerly undisclosed discussions with Microsoft are expected driven by a rarely critical, $1.35-million news progressing this year on a steady failures of Shared Services Canada given a origination in 2011 as Ottawa’s IT department.
The Jan. 12 report by general experts, fabricated by consultants Gartner Inc., pronounced a struggling group needs to find some-more cloud-based solutions: “There is concept agreement from a Expert Panel that a course of cloud and a stability arena make this proceed a critical member of a going-forward plan for SSC.”
… no resource is wholly means to forestall unfamiliar entrance to information …
– Shared Services Canada memo on regulating foreign-based cloud services for supportive Canadian supervision data
Outsourcing information storage and estimate to blurb cloud services eliminates a need for dear hardware or software, and can be stretched and engaged as needed. The Gartner report, among other things, suggested regulating a cloud use for Ottawa’s badly behind transition to a singular email use opposite government.
Ottawa has been reviewing cloud options given Apr 2014, when then-treasury house president Tony Clement announced a Conservative supervision was rising consultant consultations to demeanour for assets by switching to cloud storage and processing.
Consultations and reviews have been underway some-more or reduction invariably given then, including an publicity of a proceed in 2016 from Scott Brison, a Treasury Board boss underneath a Liberals, who pronounced cloud computing would “get improved value for taxpayers’ dollars.”
The latest turn of cloud consultations ended last Sept. 30, and Treasury Board spokesperson Alain Belle-Isle pronounced there’s still no word on an updated cloud strategy.
The Gartner news in Jan cautioned opposite delays, job on a supervision “to fast-track a growth of cloud capabilities for a GC [Government of Canada]. The Expert Panel and Gartner trust this should be given a top priority — before examining managed use providers or other businessman granted infrastructure use providers.”
The May memo on discussions with Microsoft referred to several data-encryption options, including putting encrypted information on a U.S. cloud server though gripping a decoding pivotal within Canada.
‘Hold your possess key’
However, a ask outlines several daunting problems, including a cost, of such a “hold your possess key” system, an choice few Microsoft clients use.
Referring in prejudiced to a USA Patriot Act, a memo says Microsoft “always informs clients about any authorised requests for entrance to information before to releasing information. In some cases, Microsoft has sent a ask by a customer country’s authorised complement for a suitable authorised response.”
Then-treasury house boss Tony Clement launched consultations on cloud computing in 2014 and discussions have continued for some-more than 3 years. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press.)
“According to Microsoft, a association has never expelled a information of one nation to a unfamiliar government, including a United States.”
But a memo also concludes with a warning that no data-storage cloud complement is cool to a USA Patriot Act or other authorised hurdles to Canada’s information sovereignty.
The ask by Raj Thuppal, of a Cyber and IT Security section of Shared Services Canada, says ” … no resource is means to wholly forestall unfamiliar entrance to information should authorised requests be invoked.”Â
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Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/storage-data-cloud-government-canadian-shared-services-microsoft-secret-1.4277836?cmp=rss