14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just announced that it reached a new agreement with NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency that would help the two expand their existing partnership to fight cybersecurity threats and build a trusted digital environment.
In case you’re wondering what these fancy words actually mean, they actually refer to a collaboration as part of which Microsoft will work together with the government to provide better security for their existing cloud services and products that might be attacked from the outside.
Redmond says that, without such protection, not only governments would be impacted but also citizens and national economies, so today’s agreement should be good news for everyone.
“Trust” partnerships with 25 governments
Similar partnerships have already been signed with over 40 agencies from 25 governments worldwide, Microsoft says. As part of the collaboration program, Microsoft can help governments secure their environments, plan deployment of new solutions, such as Windows 10, or prepare for cloud mitigation scenarios.
“Through this agreement, the NCI Agency will gain access to technical information and documentation about Microsoft products and services, as well as information about internet safety, threat intelligence, online training tools, and guidance to help mitigate the effects of cyberattacks across the region,” Microsoft explains.
NATO officials claim the organization is becoming the target of more cybercriminals across the world, and such partnership with tech companies are becoming a must to make sure that no citizen or economy is impacted.
“NATO is facing new and increasingly dangerous threats to cybersecurity across the world and these threats could affect national economies and citizens. To avoid it, NCI Agency strongly believes in rapid and early information sharing on threats and vulnerabilities with leader companies worldwide, such as Microsoft. Trust is the key to success,” said Koen Gijsbers, NCI Agency General Manager.
Microsoft has already been a NATO partner for more than 12 years, so this new deal comes to expand the previous agreement, this time putting the focus on cloud services more than on anything else.