Pentagon moving nuke secrets to Cloud

guest · Sep 10, 2019

Esper has ‘no firm timeline’ for JEDI review
September 9, 2019
https://www.fedscoop.com/mark-esper-no-timeline-jedi-review/

Defense Secretary Mark Esper has been receiving weekly briefings on the Pentagon’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract. However, he doesn’t have a “firm timeline in mind” on when he will decide on the acquisition’s future.

Of course, Esper’s review isn’t the only roadblock holding DOD back from issuing an award. The department’s inspector general is also reviewing the handling of the contract and investigating potential conflicts of interest that may have impacted the acquisition strategy.

“So in some ways, the timeline isn’t completely mine,” he said, referencing the IG investigation. “The DOD would have to finish its report. So I don’t have any hard timeline in mind.”
If the Esper and IG reviews allow JEDI to move forward, the contract should be extremely close to an award. The competition is down to just Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, as it has been for months.
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guest · Oct 18, 2019

Pentagon developing JEDI cloud deployment security guidance
October 17, 2019
https://www.fedscoop.com/pentagon-jedi-security-guidance/

The Department of Defense is drafting cloud deployment security guidance rooted in zero trust for agencies that will eventually move to the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud.

Though DOD’s $10 billion JEDI contract is currently under review by Secretary Mark Esper and the Pentagon’s inspector general, Paul Jacob, a cybersecurity architect in the DOD CIO’s office, said the department is pushing forward with the cloud security guidance so it will be ready to go when an award is issued.

“When we were asked to put together the cloud security guidance, the thought was zero trust is a good basis to determine the requirements,” Jacob told FedScoop after the event. “And then to use that in socializing with leadership to say, ‘We’ve applied zero trust to cloud.’”
What remains unclear is whether the guidance will be for official use only or released publicly.
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hawki · Oct 25, 2019

"Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10 Billion JEDI Contract, Thwarting Amazon

The Department of Defense has awarded a $10 billion technology contract to Microsoft, in what was a closely scrutinized contest after President Trump said he might intervene in the hard-fought commercial battle..."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/technology/dod-jedi-contract.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

"Pentagon awards controversial $10 billion cloud computing deal to Microsoft, spurning Amazon

The contract award comes after years of bitter accusations and lawsuits by some of the country’s biggest tech companies. Rivals had feared the procurement was fixed in Amazon’s favor."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...oud-computing-deal-microsoft-spurning-amazon/

guest · Oct 28, 2019

Even after Microsoft wins, JEDI saga could drag on
October 28, 2019
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/28/even-after-microsoft-wins-jedi-saga-could-drag-on/

The DoD JEDI contract saga came to a thrilling conclusion on Friday afternoon, appropriately enough, with one final plot twist. The presumptive favorite, Amazon did not win, stunning many, including likely the company itself. In the end, Microsoft took home the $10 billion prize.

This contract was filled with drama from the beginning, given the amount of money involved, the length of the contract, the winner-take-all nature of the deal — and the politics. We can’t forget the politics. This was Washington after all and Jeff Bezos does own the Washington Post.
Then there was Oracle’s fury throughout the procurement process.

Before we get too crazy about Microsoft getting a $10 billion, 10 year contract, consider that Amazon earned $9 billion last quarter alone in cloud revenue. Microsoft reported $33 billion last quarter in total revenue.
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Where the value lies
If value of this deal was not the contract itself, it begs the question, why did everyone want it so badly?
If you could modernize the DoD’s infrastructure, the argument goes, chances are you could do the same for other areas of the government. It could open the door for Microsoft for a much more lucrative government cloud business.
Fool if you think it’s over
So that’s that right? The decision has been made and it’s time to move on. Amazon will go home and lick its wounds. Microsoft gets bragging rights and we’re good. Actually, this might not be where it ends at all.

The bottom line is a decision has been made, at least for now, but this process has been rife with controversy from the start, just by the design of the project, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Amazon take some protest action of its own. It seems oddly appropriate.
[7quote]
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guest · Oct 30, 2019

Will AWS protest Microsoft’s JEDI award?
October 30, 2019
https://www.fedscoop.com/aws-protest-microsoft-jedi-award/

We’ve waited this long for JEDI, and we might have to wait a bit longer.

A source close to AWS said the company is considering its options regarding a JEDI protest. It has 10 days after receiving a debriefing from the DOD to file a protest. It’s unclear if that clock has started ticking yet — the announcement of the award came on the evening of Oct. 25, and acquisition rules give DOD three business days to hold the debriefing.
[...] Roger Waldron, president of the Coalition for Government Procurement, told FedScoop. But, “if they get a debriefing and there’s a compelling case as to why they did not receive the award, perhaps they rethink it, perhaps they move on.”

However, Dave Mihelcic, former CTO of the Defense Information Systems Agency, calling himself the likely “odd man out,” said, “I suspect there’s a possibility Amazon won’t protest.”
He also pointed to the debriefing as the important factor.
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guest · Nov 6, 2019

Department of Energy closely watching DOD’s JEDI implementation
November 4, 2019
https://www.fedscoop.com/doe-watching-jedi-implementation-karen-evans/

The Department of Defense’s adoption of commercial cloud through the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program won’t just affect the military services and defense support agencies.

The Department of Energy is closely watching the Pentagon’s JEDI implementation to see how it may change the way the two interact when sharing information, said Karen Evans, assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).
Particularly, Evans and her office meet and work regularly with Cyber Command and NSA around “the whole what does it mean to defend forward, and how is DOD going to work with the private sector to make sure power stays up?”

“We always look forward to seeing how DOD accomplishes migration to the cloud,” Evans said. “You guys have your big cloud award out there, so of course DOE is looking to see how that implementation is going to go forward. [...]"
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hawki · Nov 14, 2019

mood said: ↑

Will AWS protest Microsoft’s JEDI award?
October 30, 2019
https://www.fedscoop.com/aws-protest-microsoft-jedi-award/
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"Amazon will challenge Pentagon’s award of $10 billion JEDI contract to Microsoft, citing ‘unmistakable bias’...

The controversial and long-delayed contract had been widely expected to go to Amazon Web Services but was instead awarded to rival Microsoft last month.

Amazon said in a statement that contract awards should be 'free from political influence.' In July, President Trump directed Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper to reexamine the contract, citing concerns it would go to Amazon..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ntract-to-microsoft-citing-unmistakable-bias/

guest · Nov 23, 2019

Amazon Sues Over Loss of Pentagon Cloud Deal
November 23, 2019
https://www.cdrinfo.com/d7/content/amazon-sues-over-loss-pentagon-cloud-deal

Amazon.com Inc. filed a lawsuit on Friday challenging the Defense Department’s choice of rival Microsoft for a $10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract.
The lawsuit was filed under seal in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington.

In court paperwork, Amazon said the lawsuit was filed under seal because it contains “sensitive” information that “would cause severe competitive harm” if it’s released.
Microsoft asked to intervene in the suit, arguing in a filing that the case will “directly affect Microsoft’s interests” and “carries the potential for significant economic and other harms to Microsoft.”
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Daveski17 · Nov 23, 2019

Personally, I wouldn't let Jedward anywhere near anything nuclear related.

guest · Dec 9, 2019

Amazon Bid Protest on JEDI Claims ‘Improper Pressure’ From Trump
Company says president wanted to harm Bezos in awarding of cloud-computing deal to Microsoft
December 9, 2019
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon...shareToken=ste60c5605d5ae4678a5b8c9bb8ddb597b

Amazon.com Inc. said President Trump exerted “improper pressure” on the Pentagon to keep a lucrative cloud-computing deal from going to his perceived political enemy, company founder Jeffrey Bezos.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, Amazon said the president “launched repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks” on the contract and the company to steer the contract away from Amazon. Mr. Trump’s aim was “to harm his perceived political enemy—Jeffrey P. Bezos,” according to the complaint, which was made public Monday.
Amazon was long considered the favorite to win the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract, which is valued at as much as $10 billion over the next decade.
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103-page redacted complaint (PDF - 3.75 MB): https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19442984/amazonjedi.pdf

guest · Dec 16, 2019

In a blow to Amazon, Microsoft finally authorized to handle “Secret” Pentagon data
Microsoft received a key provisional security nod. Here's what that means for JEDI
December 16, 2019
https://www.bizjournals.com/washing...secures-provisional-authority-for-secret.html

There’s no longer only one vendor authorized to handle classified information in the cloud, at least not for the next three months.

Defense Information Systems Agency officials confirmed on Monday to the Washington Business Journal that Microsoft Corp.'s Azure cloud had obtained on Thursday a temporary authority to operate some key offerings at Impact Level 6 (IL6), the security requirement for handling the "Secret" level of classified material on the cloud. That level is just below the highest level of "Top Secret" for classified material.
DISA officials said the provisional authorization will provide the Redmond, Washington, software giant with IL6 access for three months to pilot projects and develop and test “policies, processes and procedures” before the agency will consider issuing a longer authority.

“The Microsoft Azure IL6 offering provides classified processing capabilities up to the Secret level for DOD and Federal users,” DISA officials said in an email to the WBJ. “This represents a first for Microsoft in making their IaaS available to DOD communities for impact level 6 data.”
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AWS officials declined to comment on Microsoft's provisional authorization news. AWS remains the only cloud vendor authorized to handle any "Top Secret" information in the cloud [...]
Per requirements in the JEDI contract’s draft request for proposal, Microsoft has six months from the award date to secure permanent "Secret"-level authorization and nine months from the award for "Top Secret" status.
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guest · Jan 4, 2020

Oracle’s JEDI Appeal Continues
There was an abundance of legal activity over the holidays in Oracle’s JEDI appeal
January 3, 2020
https://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/2020/01/oracles-jedi-appeal-wages/162206/

In a Nov. 19 legal filing, Oracle advanced its appeal of the Pentagon’s JEDI contract decision, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to force the Defense Department to rebid the JEDI contract.
Oracle’s appeal contends the U.S. Court of Federal Claims erred in several ways, including its finding that Oracle did not suffer “competitive prejudice” over the Defense Department’s decision to issue JEDI to a single cloud provider. Oracle also disagreed with the court’s decision on the Pentagon’s use of gate criteria and “numerous ethical improprieties present in the procurement.”

Attorneys for Amazon and the Defense Department responded to Oracle’s appeal in separate legal filings on Dec. 26. The filings encourage the court to uphold the Court of Federal Claims ruling. In addition, Amazon’s attorneys argue Oracle’s allegations that Amazon hired former government employees and obtained an unfair advantage are “mooted,” given that Amazon did not win JEDI.

It is unclear how or whether Oracle’s JEDI case will impact Amazon’s JEDI lawsuit.
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guest · Jan 6, 2020

U.S. attorneys look to close Oracle’s case against JEDI
January 6, 2020
https://www.fedscoop.com/oracle-jedi-case-doj-wants-closed/

Attorneys representing the Department of Defense are hoping to put Oracle’s protest of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud acquisition to bed — especially now that an award to Microsoft has rendered several parts of the litigation “moot.”

Taken wholesale, the arguments from the U.S. attorneys are mostly a recycling of their claims from and in support of the decisions in the earlier stages of Oracle’s protest of the acquisition, which has now far exceeded a year in various venues.
On top of that, now that Microsoft has been named the winner of JEDI, DOD’s attorneys say that invalidates Oracle’s secondary allegations of conflict of interest between former Pentagon officials and the company’s cloud rival Amazon Web Services.
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guest · Jan 14, 2020

Amazon wants to block Microsoft from working on the $10 billion JEDI contract at all until its own challenge of the contract has been resolved
January 14, 2020
https://www.businessinsider.de/inte...oft-10-billion-pentagon-jedi-contract-2020-1/

Amazon is taking legal action to stop Microsoft from starting work on a $10 billion Pentagon contract Amazon claims it was unfairly blocked from winning.

Amazon filed its first legal complaint disputing the decision in November, claiming it had been the victim of „clear deficiencies, errors, and unmistakable bias.“
This new legal challenge, filed in a federal court on Monday, is designed to block Microsoft from performing any substantial work on JEDI until Amazon’s first lawsuit is resolved.
Microsoft will move to dismiss the case, according to Bloomberg.

The judge has been asked by the companies to rule on Amazon’s newest filing by February 11.
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hawki · Feb 10, 2020

Amazon seeks to depose Pres. Trump in Jedi award court challenge:

https://twitter.com/b_fung/status/1226883013029638144?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

guest · Feb 10, 2020

Article:

Amazon wants to depose president and secretary of Defense as part of JEDI protest
February 10, 2020
https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/10/a...secretary-of-defense-as-part-of-jedi-protest/

Today, AWS made public its Motion to Supplement the Record in its protest of the JEDI contract decision. As part of that process, the company has announced it wants to depose President Trump and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

It had been widely believed that Amazon would win the contract, and there was much wrangling and complaining throughout the procurement process that the contract had been designed to favor Amazon, something that the DoD repeatedly denied.

At AWS re:Invent at the end last year, AWS CEO Andy Jassy made it clear he was unhappy with the decision and that he believed the president showed bias. “I think that we ended up with a situation where there was political interference. [...]”
Sources say that the DoD gave Amazon a written debriefing after the decision to award the contract to Microsoft, but the company is particularly upset that the department has failed to respond in a timely fashion to requests for additional information and questions, as required by law.
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hawki · Feb 13, 2020

"Court orders Pentagon to halt work on Microsoft’s JEDI cloud contract after Amazon protests

Defense Department lawyers had planned to “go live” with the long-awaited cloud computing network on Friday, Feb. 14. But a last-minute court order will prevent it from moving forward."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...ts-jedi-cloud-contract-after-amazon-protests/

Backgrounder:

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defe...pentagon-warns-of-national-security-concerns/

xxJackxx · Feb 13, 2020

hawki said: ↑

"Court orders Pentagon to halt work on Microsoft’s JEDI cloud contract after Amazon protests

Defense Department lawyers had planned to “go live” with the long-awaited cloud computing network on Friday, Feb. 14. But a last-minute court order will prevent it from moving forward."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...ts-jedi-cloud-contract-after-amazon-protests/

Backgrounder:

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defe...pentagon-warns-of-national-security-concerns/
Click to expand...

Washington Post articles about Amazon. How much conflict of interest?

guest · Mar 6, 2020

Amazon: Pentagon should have tossed Microsoft’s JEDI bid over ‘noncompliant storage solution’
March 6, 2020
https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazo...softs-jedi-bid-noncompliant-storage-solution/

Amazon claims that Microsoft’s winning bid for the Pentagon’s coveted $10 billion cloud computing contract should have been disqualified after the Redmond company proposed a type of data storage that didn’t meet the technical requirements laid out by the U.S. Department of Defense, allowing Microsoft to offer an artificially low price for the capability.

Court documents unsealed Friday afternoon reveal that argument as the central reason that a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge issued a preliminary injunction last month preventing Microsoft and the Pentagon from proceeding with work on the contract pending the outcome of Amazon’s legal challenge. The text of the judge’s order had previously been filed under seal.
Even in the unsealed order, the specific type of storage that Microsoft proposed is still redacted, but the Pentagon’s solicitation for bids “explicitly required online storage,” writes Judge Patricia E Campbell Smith in the order.

In a statement Friday afternoon, Microsoft disagreed with the significance of the issue as a factor in evaluating its bid.
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hawki · Mar 6, 2020

"Judge says Amazon is ‘likely to succeed’ on key argument in Pentagon cloud lawsuit

A federal judge has concluded that a bid protest lawsuit brought by Amazon over President Trump’s intervention in an important Pentagon cloud computing contract 'is likely to succeed on the merits' of one of its central arguments, according to a court document made public Friday...

[The judge] sided with Amazon’s contention that the Pentagon had made a mistake in how it evaluated prices for competing proposals from Amazon and Microsoft...

[The judge] also concluded that the mistake is likely to materially harm Amazon..."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...-succeed-key-argument-pentagon-cloud-lawsuit/

guest · Mar 12, 2020

Department of Defense seeks to reevaluate JEDI cloud-contract bids after Microsoft win paused
The Pentagon is seeking to obtain revised bids from AWS and Microsoft
March 13, 2020
https://www.zdnet.com/article/depar...oud-contract-bids-after-microsoft-win-paused/

On March 12, the U.S. Department of Defense requested the right to obtain revised bids from AWS and Microsoft for the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Initiative (JEDI) contract, a couple of weeks after work on it was suspended.
Though Microsoft was awarded the JEDI win in October last year, the Pentagon is now seeking to go back and reconsider parts of the bids, according to a motion filed with the Court of Federal Claims today.

In that DoD filing, the Pentagon is seeking to reexamine a pricing clause, in particular. The government wants another four months to reevaluate the bids. (Thanks to Federal News Network for posting ta link to today's filing.)
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According to the motion, AWS opposes the Pentagon's request to suspend its legal challenge and reconsider the bids and plans to file a response. Microsoft doesn't oppose the motion. I've asked both Microsoft and Amazon for further comment on today's filing, but no word back so far.

Update: Microsoft's statement, courtesy of Frank Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Communications:

"We believe the Department of Defense made the correct decision when they awarded the contract. However, we support their decision to reconsider a small number of factors as it is likely the fastest way to resolve all issues and quickly provide the needed modern technology to people across our armed forces. [...]"
The DoD wants to reconsider "its evaluation of the technical aspects of Price Scenario 6," which involves storage solution pricing, in particular, according to the March 12 motion
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guest · Mar 17, 2020

15 additional AWS services authorized at DoD Impact Level 6 for the AWS Secret Region
(DoD Impact Level 6 = Accommodates DoD Classified Information up to SECRET)
March 17, 2020
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/securi...horized-dod-impact-level-6-aws-secret-region/

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has authorized 15 additional AWS services in the AWS Secret Region for production workloads at the Department of Defense (DoD) Impact Level (IL) 6 under the DoD’s Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (DoD CC SRG). The authorization at DoD IL 6 allows DoD Mission Owners to process classified and mission-critical workloads for National Security Systems in the AWS Secret Region.
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guest · Mar 17, 2020

Combat In The Cloud: Securing The $10 Billion JEDI Contract
March 12, 2020
https://go.forrester.com/blogs/combat-in-the-cloud-securing-the-10-billion-jedi-contract/

Last October, Microsoft won the $10 billion U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract. The 10-year agreement is part of a larger Pentagon initiative to modernize and unify its IT infrastructure, most of which still exists on technology from the 1980s and 1990s.
The Microsoft decision came as a massive shock since many considered Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the likely winner [...]
The Azure Win May Be More Than Political Bias
Currently, AWS is disputing the decision by claiming interference and bias due to President Donald Trump’s public hostility toward Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, an outspoken critic of the President.
Microsoft had made several key moves to make a convincing case for JEDI. [...]
What It Means
With JEDI, Microsoft has positioned itself to earn the potentially $40 billion that the U.S. federal government expects to spend in the next several years on cloud. Losing the bid has also put the race between AWS and Azure a little closer to neck-and-neck rather than the previously distant first and second. Losing the bid has also put the race between AWS and Azure a little closer to neck-and-neck rather than the previously distant first and second.
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guest · Mar 25, 2020

US Defense Department still favoring Microsoft with JEDI contract evaluation, says Amazon
March 25, 2020
https://www.onmsft.com/news/us-defe...oft-with-jedi-contract-evaluation-says-amazon

Amazon, the leader in cloud computing, claimed on Tuesday that the Pentagon is attempting to constrain its review of the $10 billion cloud-computing deal that was originally awarded to Microsoft.
On Tuesday, Amazon’s court filing was made public urging a federal judge to ensure that the Defense Department conducts a broader review than was originally proposed. Amazon stated in their filing that the government is “gerrymandering the corrective action to preserve the illusion that Microsoft offered the lowest price.”

While the Pentagon and Amazon have stated their position publicly, Microsoft has maintained a low profile and indicates that they believe the DoD made the correct decision including their review to reconsider a small number of factors.
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guest · Mar 30, 2020

Microsoft earns authorization to handle DOD secret-level information
March 27, 2020
https://www.fedscoop.com/azure-micorsoft-dod-secret-jedi/

The new authority is a key component of the company’s ability to deliver on its award in the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud contract.

Tom Keane, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Azure Global, announced in a blog post that the company’s Azure Secret Government cloud service has achieved a provisional authority to host DOD data at impact level 6 (IL6) — categorized as classified national security information.
On top of that, Keane announced Microsoft has met a pair of risk management directives necessary to perform key work with intelligence community agencies.

“Built exclusively for the needs of U.S. government and operated by cleared U.S. citizens, Azure Government Secret delivers dedicated regions to maintain the security and integrity of classified Secret workloads while enabling reliable access to critical data,” Keane says of the service.
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Under the $10 billion JEDI contract, Microsoft is required to meet IL6 within 180 days of the October award. Within 270 days, it will also need to receive authorization to handle Top Secret government information, per the contract.
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Microsoft: Azure Government Secret accredited at DoD IL6, ICD 503 with IaaS and PaaS

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