Note: HCS-D is now Webex for Defense. All references in the original blog have been updated to reflect this change. You can learn more at Webex for Defense.
Our grandparents tell us of a time when they often left their doors unlocked and their ground level windows open. A time when security and community went hand-in-hand. But times do, indeed, change. Today we take our personal security so much more seriously that we even have cameras in our doorbells. And the need is even greater when it comes to securing government.
Secure cloud, secure collaboration
At Cisco we’ve come to understand the value of end-to-end cybersecurity for government, especially in collaboration. And with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) migration to cloud, security is at the forefront, signaling the need for an open, simple, and automated approach that provides deeper visibility when and where it’s needed. In essence, the need to both “protect and defend” while “connecting and achieving.”
We’re committed to making our nation’s cybersecurity posture the best it can be, so we’ve backed that up with action:
- Certifying more products to meet U.S. Federal government requirements than any other IT company
- Developing a large portfolio of software-as-a-service (SaaS) offers, both in-market and in-process, for FedRAMP authorization and FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) conformance
- Designing our products and cloud services to work in a multi-cloud hybrid state, connecting on-premise capabilities with cloud capabilities.
Securing data while increasing functionality
Many think better data security means less functionality or less capability. But we think otherwise. Take, for example, two of our hybrid capable, hosted collaboration services:
- Cisco Webex for Defense, formerly known as Hosted Collaboration Solution for Defense (HCS-D), that provides secure collaboration from enterprise to the edge. It features market-leading Cisco collaboration services, including Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Jabber, and Cisco Meeting Server.
- The Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution for Government (HCS-G).
For government, including the US Department of Defense and organizations that support critical infrastructure, the Webex for Defense and HCS-G platforms are the bridge to innovation in secure environments, as outlined in the Five C’s of Innovation:
- Collaboration: They can connect decision makers and the implementors of decisions anywhere, anytime.
- Cloud: Both Webex for Defense and HCS-G remain “evergreen” through continuous updates to capabilities, available via geographically diverse redundancy, and scalable by growing and contracting with user needs.
- Compliance: Webex for Defense is FedRAMP Authorized and in the final stages of its DoD IL-5 authorization.
- Comfort: Both platforms connect people via the endpoints they are most comfortable using at the moment users need to connect–traditional telephone handsets, video units both small and large, mobile devices, laptop and desktop computers, and multiple conferencing options from voice to web. If users are comfortable with their endpoints they are much more likely to actually use the collaboration tools available to them.
- Confidence: The first four C’s deliver the fifth – the confidence to enable decision making and implementation quickly and efficiently. Powered by an evergreen system that is always available and scales to user’s needs, a collaboration system that protects user’s data, and a system that users actually use because it’s built and implemented to work with users not against them.
For the DoD, Webex for Defense enables a holistic approach that delivers “one service, one experience” for every user. And all in a simple, flexible, and secure solution.
Staying secure against cyberthreats
We must realize that the threats we face as a nation are real and growing. From the intelligence community (whose mandates require operating beyond the edge of today’s threat landscape), the DoD (charged with defending our republic’s freedoms), and other government institutions (including contractors and systems integrators) delivering critical citizen services, to private sector critical infrastructure for energy and clean water, public safety, schools . . . even buildings and manufacturing facilities. As well as the roadways and mass transit systems to get you to them. When it comes to the cyberthreats of today and the future, Cisco is at the forefront of protecting and connecting.
Times change, threats evolve. And they will continue to do so. At Cisco we believe in investing in the people, processes, and technologies needed to reach the levels of security achieved through U.S. federal government data security program authorizations. As government migrates to secure cloud, we are committed to helping secure collaboration because protecting data is key to helping our customers achieve their goals, today and into the future.
Additional Resources
Discover more about: Webex for Defense
Get up to speed on: Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution for Government (HCS-G)
Infographic: Secure communications from HQ to the battlefield
Special Report: Impacts on Government: Annual Cybersecurity Report
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