Amazon's GovCloud now complies with an additional security regulation, opening the door to more government users Amazon is stepping up the security and access features of its cloud services in an effort to attract more government agencies as customers.On Tuesday, Amazon announced the Amazon Web Services GovCloud, a service that complies with the International Traffic in Arms Regulation. ITAR regulates how government agencies manage and store sensitive data, including defense data.Any cloud service used by organizations that are covered by ITAR can only be accessible by U.S. citizens. Because the AWS GovCloud is only accessible by U.S. citizens and complies with ITAR’s other requirements, government agencies can use the service to store and manage additional kinds of data, AWS said.Amazon’s cloud services already meet other important government regulations, such as the Federal Information Security Management Act and the Federal Information Processing Standard, so government agencies have been using the services. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the U.S. Recovery and Accountability Transparency Board are two federal agencies that already use AWS.The cost to use GovCloud is higher than the rate for comparable AWS services aimed at non-government customers. Amazon has largely stayed out of the battle between Microsoft and Google for government cloud services. Those companies are in heated competition to offer hosted e-mail and other enterprise services to government agencies. Amazon is best known for offering computing and storage cloud services.Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy’s e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com Related content feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions Mergers and Acquisitions brandpost Unmasking ransomware threat clusters: Why it matters to defenders Similar patterns of behavior among ransomware treat groups can help security teams better understand and prepare for attacks By Joan Goodchild Sep 21, 2023 3 mins Cybercrime news analysis China’s offensive cyber operations support “soft power” agenda in Africa Researchers track Chinese cyber espionage intrusions targeting African industrial sectors. By Michael Hill Sep 21, 2023 5 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks Critical Infrastructure brandpost Proactive OT security requires visibility + prevention You cannot protect your operation by simply watching and waiting. It is essential to have a defense-in-depth approach. By Austen Byers Sep 21, 2023 4 mins Security Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe