{"id":647544,"date":"2013-03-19T13:11:15","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T17:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=621912"},"modified":"2013-03-19T13:11:15","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T17:11:15","slug":"report-the-cia-and-amazon-are-in-cahoots-over-secret-cloud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/647544","title":{"rendered":"Report: The CIA and Amazon are in cahoots over secret cloud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now here\u2019s a story that will probably never get confirmed:\u00a0\u00a0Federal Computer Week<\/em> is reporting that the Central Intelligence Agency has contracted cloud kingpin Amazon Web Services<\/a> to build a cloud for the super secret spy agency.<\/p>\n

The report, as you might expect, doesn\u2019t name its sources, but contends that Amazon will help build private cloud infrastructure that will enable the CIA to \u201ckeep up with emerging technologies like big data in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA\u2019s previous cloud efforts.\u201d The contract is for up to $600 million over the next 10 years, according to FCW, which said neither Amazon nor the CIA would comment.<\/p>\n

A CIA spokesman, as expected, declined comment saying:\u00a0\u201cAs a general rule, the CIA does not publicly disclose details of our contracts, the identities of our contractors, the contract values, or the scope of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing though. A collaboration like this makes sense for the CIA, given the U.S. government\u2019s big\u00a0\u201ccloud first\u201d initiative<\/a>, which holds that the use of cloud computing technologies will save money and make government more responsive and flexible to its constituencies. And it would give Amazon a test bed to show \u2014 at least within\u00a0the tight-lipped intelligence community \u2014 that it can build mission-critical and super secure private<\/em> clouds for their use.<\/p>\n

Amazon, as well as some legacy IT players<\/a>, \u00a0has struggled on that whole private cloud front. Amazon Web Services launched Virtual Private Cloud capabilities four years ago and last week said it is\u00a0broadening their use<\/a>. It\u00a0also hosts GovCloud<\/a>, which is cordoned off from the rest of AWS,\u00a0for government accounts.<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, Amazon\u2019s biggest and oldest data center farm, US-East, is in Ashburn, Virg., and it is reportedly\u00a0expanding its presence there\u00a0<\/a>with another huge data center farm. The CIA is based about 20 miles away\u00a0in Langley, Virg.<\/p>\n

I will update this story if I hear back from Amazon and this is something we\u2019ll be sure to ask \u00a0Ira \u201cGus\u201d Hunt, \u00a0CTO of the Central Intelligence Agency, when he speaks Wednesday at GigaOM\u2019s Structure Data event<\/a> in New York. I\u2019m betting he keeps mum.<\/p>\n

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