Understanding that collaborating with, communicating securely, and supplying deliverables into the MOD would be a key output, the challenge of utilising secure IT, accredited by the MOD for use at OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE, would be vital.
How do you communicate and work at OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE without reliance on MOD equipment and infrastructure?
As a company, we were keen to avoid critical dependencies on MOD provided infrastructure or the need to “buy into” a dedicated RLI connection. Utilising in-house expertise and working closely with the MOD Accreditation Authority (CyDR), Logiq designed, configured and launched an affordable secure cloud platform – DISX® – a solution that meets both our business requirement and satisfies government security policy, ultimately achieving a fully accredited solution for processing information classified up to OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE (OS). In achieving connectivity to DEFNet, we were also able to mitigate having to arrange a complex and expensive direct connectivity to the RLI.
It is possible to have a cloud platform secured and accredited to hold OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE
One of the primary difficulties for companies engaging with government, is collaboration at OS using email exchange. Working closely with the MOD Accreditation Authority, DISX® is configured to implement all email controls securing email in transit to the MOD and other Government departments for email exchange. The security of the data-in-transit, from DISX® to MOD, combined with hardened and managed End User Devices (EUDs), including BYOD mobile phones, results in the ability to communicate and collaborate easily with Government Departments.
With appropriate controls around system components and information flows, it is possible to send OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE emails over the Internet
In satisfying our own business requirements, and with the addition of a robust service wrap, DISX® was able to be delivered to other SME organisations as a Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) managed service. This provides Defence SMEs access to a rapidly deployable, affordable, and highly capable solution to deliver OS outputs into MOD, as well as instant, secure, email connectivity.
The key features of DISX® are:
- Accredited Baseline for the processing and transmission of OS information
- Fully mobile solution, supporting the homeworking environment
- Ongoing maintenance, support, and remote management
- Evergreen platform introducing new functional and security features
- Protective monitoring and alerting meeting MOD and Industry security best practices
- Threat Intelligence feeds
- Change and Service Management
Through Logiq’s development and delivery of the DISX® solution, valuable lessons have been learnt, but the key message we wanted to share, particularly to fellow SMEs, is that:
It is possible to communicate and work collaboratively across Defence and its Industry partners on a secure, affordable, and assured cloud platform!
For more information about DISX and secure communications, visit our dedicated DISX website or contact us: contact@logiqconsulting.co.uk