Air Force Taps Google for IT Security Assessment

The Air Force has awarded Google’s cloud business a $2 million contract it hopes will ultimately provide its tens of thousands of airmen more secure, higher-quality data.

Announced Friday, the other transactional authority contract is part of broader Air Force Enterprise IT-as-a-Service, or EITaaS, effort to reduce risk and test the feasibility of commercial solutions. EITaaS covers network-as-a-service, end-user services and computing and storage capabilities, and under the contract, Google will conduct technical assessments to determine whether alternative capabilities can meet Air Force requirements.

“We want to understand how Google provides secure and reliable access to data,” Capt. Trey LaSane, EITaaS project officer in the Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorate, said in a statement. “We ultimately want to enable a more secure platform, where we are able to identify users and ensure they have the appropriate permissions to connect them with the data they need.”

According to the statement, Google will assess the Air Force’s current IT landscape and measure the digital experience of airmen, who make up the majority of its user base. The Air Force also expects Google to develop a plan to integrate commercial solutions at an Air Force test site.

“We’re excited to work with the Air Force in their efforts to protect and secure critical data against cyber threats around the world,” Mike Daniels, vice president of public sector at Google Cloud, said in a statement. “We continue to partner with the U.S. government, including the military, to solve key problems in areas like cybersecurity, logistics, transportation and planning, and more.”