Memset jumps to G-Cloud's defence over security

Supplier claims new security classifications prove government's commitment to cloud

SMB supplier Memset has defended the Cabinet Office's move to change the way it classifies IT projects' security levels, claiming the new system demonstrates its commitment to cloud.

From today, suppliers seeking to join G-Cloud will not be able to apply for a Pan-Government Accredition (PGA) - a badge which certifies IT suppliers to handle data of certain levels of sensitivity under the old Impact Level (IL) scheme, which was scrapped in April.

The old IL rules divided projects into "unclassified", "protect", "restricted", "confidential", "secret" and "top secret" tiers, but under the new scheme, the first four labels have been merged into one "official" level, with "secret" and "top secret" remaining in play.

The government claims that getting rid of the IL way of labelling security levels makes it "clearer, simpler and faster to find a service... that meets a buyer's requirements" and added that having just three levels reduces time and cost for suppliers.

Some suppliers claim the changes are confusing and may put off some local departments looking to use G-Cloud for the first time.

But Memset disagreed and said the old scheme was far worse than the new measures which come fully into force today.

"The old IL system was hugely complex and poorly understood, which created a significant barrier to entry for many companies, especially SMBs," said Memset's managing director Kate Craig-Wood (pictured).

"This simplification will greatly open up the public services ICT market.

"Collapsing lower security tiers into one is also a clear indication from the Cabinet Office of an appetite to push more services into the public cloud.

"This is great news and is the only way the full potential savings of G-Cloud will be unlocked. There is absolutely no reason why the majority of government ICT should not be conducted using British, high-security public cloud providers via the normal internet, using existing encryption technologies."