US legislation covering federal datacenters is set to expire in September and it appears that the Trump administration is simply going to allow it to lapse without replacement. The Federal Data Center Enhancement Act (FDCEA) of 2023 covers certain standards that are to be adhered to for facilities that are wholly or partially owned, operated, or maintained by a federal agency. It includes requirements relating to availability and uptime of the facility; the use of sustainable energy sources; protection against power failure; protections against physical intrusion and natural disasters; plus IT security protections. We understand that the legislation will sunset on September 30, 2026, and according to Wired, neither the US Congress nor the Trump administration appears to be making any move to extend the act, or put alternate legislation in place. The danger is that if the FDCEA is not renewed or superseded by similar legislation, then federal agencies across the US may cease to follow the requirements and simply act as they see fit when procuring new datacenter infrastructure. We asked the White House and Congress for comment. According to implementation guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the previous administration, agency datacenters “must provide secure and highly available computing infrastructure to enable reliable access to Federal information and information systems.” It notes that the "needs of the federal government with respect to data access and data processing systems have evolved since 2014,” when the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) was established, and hence the latter was not renewed but replaced by the FDCEA. The OMB states that effective operation of datacenters requires regular monitoring, and optimization of resources by operators, and directs agencies to incorporate automated tools into the management of all new facilities, including tools that monitor metrics such as electrical consumption. It also states that the “cost, scarcity, and environmental impact of energy and water consumption necessitates that agencies evaluate datacenters against resource consumption metrics and best practices when making their decisions” regarding new datacenter builds. Perhaps most importantly, it requires that federal facilities “must be able to meet the reliability and resiliency needs of their hosted information and information systems through implementation of the appropriate information security and physical security protections.” It is widely known that the Trump administration does not look kindly on regulations, especially those relating to environmental protection. Instead, policy has focused on fast-tracking the federal permitting process for datacenters, particularly those dedicated to training and developing AI models. A recent report from Politico stated that the Trump administration was not inclined to set nationwide environmental requirements or recommendations for the datacenter industry. Instead, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said that while there are technologies and practices that reduce air pollution and water usage, individual states and communities know what works best for them. At the same time, opposition to datacenter construction is growing across the US, precisely because of public fears over factors such as air pollution, water usage, and the prospect of spiking energy bills. A recent survey found more than 70 percent of respondents said that they would be against the construction of an AI datacenter in their neighborhood. ®
Palo Alto Networks is pleased to announce the successful completion of a new Cloud Medium security assessment conducted by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre), significantly expanding the number of Palo Alto Networks cloud services assessed for Protected B / Medium Integrity / Medium Availability (PBMM) environments. This assessment includes a broad range of capabilities across our Cortex®, Cortex Cloud and Strata™ platforms. By achieving this milestone, Palo Alto Networks enables organizations handling Canada’s most sensitive data to leverage a unified, AI-driven security architecture without compromising on compliance or operational resilience.
For years, many organizations viewed PBMM as something that only mattered to the Canadian federal government. It was often seen as a procurement requirement—a framework tied to public sector cloud adoption, relevant for departments handling Protected B information, but not necessarily for the private sector.
That assumption is changing.
The reality is that the challenges driving PBMM are no longer unique to government environments. Banks, energy providers, transportation networks, healthcare organizations, crown corporations, and other critical infrastructure operators are now facing many of the same pressures:
Expanding attack surfaces across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
Increased regulatory scrutiny and privacy obligations.
Greater operational dependence on cloud and AI technologies.
Increased reliance on third-party providers and software supply chains.
The need to maintain operational resilience during cyber incidents and disruptions.
A growing expectation that organizations can demonstrate—not just claim—security maturity.
That is why PBMM matters far beyond Ottawa. At its core, PBMM represents a rigorous approach to validating whether enterprise-grade security platforms can operate securely in environments where trust, resilience, and operational continuity are critical.
Increasingly, that level of assurance matters to everyone.
What PBMM Really Represents
PBMM, a rigorous cybersecurity and data classification standard used by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, stands for Protected B / Medium Integrity / Medium Availability. While often associated with federal cloud security requirements, PBMM is not simply a checkbox exercise. It is a comprehensive assessment framework aligned to Canadian cybersecurity guidance and operational security expectations.
What makes PBMM important is that it evaluates whether platforms and services can securely support sensitive and mission-critical workloads in real-world environments.
Palo Alto Networks meeting these rigorous PBMM requirements through three core pillars:
Strata (Network Security): Secures data resiliency and zero trust connectivity, driving robust perimeter and cloud edge protection.
Cortex Cloud (Cloud Security): Provides complete visibility, security governance, and data protection across complex cloud-native architectures.
Cortex (Security Operations): Powers the agentic SOC, combining unified data, AI, and automation to detect and respond to threats in real time.
These are not theoretical requirements. They are practical operational expectations designed for environments where downtime, visibility gaps, or security failures can have significant consequences.
Organizations today are no longer evaluating cybersecurity solely based on features. They are evaluating whether platforms can be trusted to support critical operations at scale.
Why Security Expectations Are Changing
The cybersecurity landscape has evolved dramatically. Infrastructure is distributed across cloud providers, SaaS applications, remote users, third-party integrations, operational technology (OT), AI platforms, and interconnected supply chains. At the same time, attacks have become faster, more automated, and more disruptive.
In this environment, security can no longer be treated as a compliance exercise. Organizations need confidence that their platforms, operational processes, and security controls can function effectively under pressure.
This is why Palo Alto Networks has undertaken independent PBMM assessments across its portfolio, providing customers with greater assurance and trust. By meeting these rigorous standards into Strata and Cortex, we enable non-government entities—like financial institutions and utility providers—to deploy the same defensive rigor used to protect national security systems.
Transforming Critical Infrastructure with a Unified Platform
To effectively manage risk, critical infrastructure operators require a platform approach that helps eliminate security silos, reduce manual intervention, and accelerate threat mitigation.
Key Portfolio Advantages for Critical Infrastructure & Enterprise:
AI-Driven Threat Detection & Response:Cortex XSIAM® and Cortex XDR® unify telemetry across endpoints, network, and cloud to deliver unparalleled visibility and automated threat stitching, neutralizing advanced cyberthreats before they disrupt operations.
Comprehensive Cloud Native Protection:Cortex Cloud secures applications from code to cloud to SOC, offering posture security, data protection, and continuous compliance monitoring tailored to stringent Canadian data standards.
Zero Trust Network Security:Strata enables secure access and consistent policy enforcement across campus, branch, and data center environments, protecting critical OT and IT systems from lateral threat movement.
Elite Incident Response: Backed by Unit 42®, organizations gain access to threat intelligence and rapid incident response services to augment their teams and build long-term cyber resilience.
Operational Resilience Is Becoming a Strategic Requirement
One of the most significant shifts occurring across industries today is the growing focus on operational resilience. Organizations are increasingly asking questions that extend beyond traditional cybersecurity controls:
Can we maintain critical services during a cyber attack?
Do we have visibility across our cloud environments and supply chain dependencies?
Can we rapidly detect, respond to, and recover from disruptions?
Are our governance processes keeping pace with cloud adoption and AI innovation?
As organizations adopt cloud-native architectures, AI-driven technologies, and interconnected digital ecosystems, resilience has become a board-level concern. The ability to prevent incidents remains important, but organizations are equally focused on their ability to withstand, respond to, and recover from them.
This is where frameworks like PBMM provide value. Beyond evaluating security controls, PBMM assesses the governance, operational processes, monitoring capabilities, and risk management practices that help organizations operate securely.
For critical infrastructure operators, resilience is no longer simply an IT objective—it is a business imperative. Increasingly, the organizations that earn trust are those that can demonstrate they are prepared to operate effectively when disruption occurs.
Final Thoughts: PBMM Reflects the Future of Trust
PBMM may have started solely as a government assessment framework, but its relevance now extends far beyond federal environments. It represents something universal: the ability to operate securely, reliably, and transparently in environments where trust matters most.
By expanding our PBMM-assessed offerings across Cortex and Strata, Palo Alto Networks underscores its commitment to securing Canada's digital future. We provide the validated foundation organizations need to innovate with confidence, protect sensitive data, and maintain operational continuity under any circumstance.
Ready to modernize your defenses with PBMM-assessed solutions? Schedule a demo with our team or contact Unit 42 to learn how we can help elevate your organization's resilience against emerging cyber threats.
The UK government has set up an advisory board for its digital ID project, intended "to challenge the government on emerging ideas or policy decisions to ensure the system works for everyone," says the Cabinet Office. The board includes David Rogers, an Internet of Things security expert and CEO of security consultancy Copper Horse. He is no stranger to government advisory panels, having previously sat on a group formed in 2020 to consider telecoms diversification. A year later, as chairman of the GSMA's fraud and security group, he backed the then-Conservative government's Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022. Rogers has provided El Reg with comments over the years, and in 2014 discussed iPhone 6 biometric security, arguing that better usability would cut data loss overall because most people found PIN locks too cumbersome. Justine Roberts, founder and chief executive of UK parenting forum Mumsnet, is also on the board. The site experienced a data breach in 2019 due to a cloud migration affecting 46 user accounts, leading Roberts to apologize. More recently, some Mumsnet posters have been unimpressed by the government's digital ID plans, with one responding to the prime minister's October 2025 announcement with "Honestly, who is he kidding?" and "Desperate stuff to justify this authoritative bs." During the public consultation, some posters promoted the Sex Matters campaign to let Brits include their sex in their digital IDs. Another board member, Victor Dominello, has relevant experience as the minister who launched New South Wales' digital driver's license in 2019, saying it was more secure than the physical equivalent. In 2022, a researcher at security company Dvuln found numerous security flaws in the Service NSW app that hosts the license and other government services, although the state government said these did not pose a risk to customer information. Other members include John Fallon, former chief executive of Pearson and the lead non-executive board member of the Cabinet Office; Anne-Marie Imafidon, who runs social enterprise Stemettes, which encourages people to consider jobs in tech and science; and digital regulation lawyer Emma Wright. The board will meet quarterly for as long as the digital ID program lasts. The government is also setting up engagement exercises with the digital verification and financial services sectors. It is currently running a People's Panel with around 100 to 120 participants meeting in Birmingham and on Zoom to hear from experts and ministers before producing recommendations, in return for £550 in cash or vouchers. ®
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