Based on recent survey data on cloud adoption trends from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), law enforcement agencies implementing cloud-based solutions is not a matter of if;it’s a matter of when and how.
Last week, American City & County published an article about the Federal Bureau Investigation’s (FBI) Criminal Justice Information Service Division (CJIS) compliance requirements impact on cloud-based technologies. For the article, the publication interviewed Intergraph’s Director of Public Safety John Whitehead to get his view on how CJIS requirements address cloud security issues for law enforcement and homeland security agencies.
Whether an agency is leveraging software-as-a-service models, putting applications in a private cloud, or storing data in the cloud, the FBI is mandating that cloud-based solutions comply with CJIS requirements. With law enforcement agencies facing many of the same security threats as big companies and other governmental agencies, Whitehead points out that CJIS requirements and compliance are aimed at ensuring data security and protecting sensitive materials. He also points out that using traditional workstations and on-premise infrastructure still present security risks, and that cloud-based technologies have the potential to make agencies more efficient and scalable at a lower cost of ownership.
