Federal government portal FirstGov has awarded a new hosting and security contract to the Government Solutions division of AT&T. The added security provided by AT&T is expected to be of a high enough level to accomodate secure transactions between site visitors and various government agencies.

Federal Computer Week has learned that AT&T is providing traditional firewall protection to guard against unauthorized access to FirstGov data, among other security services. AT&T Spokesman Jim Byrnes told Federal Computer Week that these services should enable FirstGov to accomodate online egovernment/ecommerce services.

No timetable for implementation of any new services was announced.

For more information on recent FirstGov upgrades see:

• FirstGov Upgrades Search Capability