AWS-Logo-blackAmazon announced today that Amazon Web Services has received a provisional certification from the Department of Defense under the department’s Cloud Security Model, showing that the company has met the DoD’s requirements for securing cloud information against attack.

The certifications apply to all of Amazon’s four regions across the U.S., including its GovCloud region that’s built for sensitive government workloads.

While a number of government users, including the U.S. Navy, already use AWS, the certification means that it’s now easier for them to move more secure workloads into Amazon’s cloud.

In addition, the company’s WorkSpaces product, which allows users to run virtual desktops on AWS, has entered general availability. That means any user who wants to run a managed virtual dektop machine, which can run applications like Microsoft Office, will now be able to run it through Amazon’s product. One of the major benefits of WorkSpaces is that it allows users to access a desktop through an iPad, Kindle Fire or Android tablet.

The news comes after a number of cloud announcements earlier in the week. Cisco announced on Monday that it plans to invest $1 billion over the next two years to build a “Global Intercloud” to compete with other public cloud offerings, While Google slashed prices for its cloud services and announced a slew of new features to cut down on the trade-offs that usually come with a cloud platform.

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