Amazon to provide CIA with cloud computing

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WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- Amazon will help the CIA build a private cloud, agreeing to a cloud computing contract worth up to $600 million over 10 years, a tech-watching website says.

FCW.com, which described itself as a website covering "the business of federal technology," said sources told it Amazon Web Services would help the intelligence agency build a private cloud infrastructure to keep up with emerging technologies in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA's previous cloud efforts.

Last week CIA Chief Information Officer Jeanne Tisinger said the CIA is looking at leveraging the commercial sector's innovation cycle for cost efficiencies in IT.

However, neither Amazon officials nor a CIA spokesperson responded to a request for information on the apparent contract agreement, FCW.com said.

"As 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," a CIA spokesperson told the website.

Previous cloud computing activities of the CIA utilized a number of smaller, highly specific private clouds, whereas a single contract with Amazon would bring its cloud computing environment within the secure firewalls of the intelligence community, ensuring classified data being would not be hosted in any public environment, FCW said.