Ask HN: Why does Google have a much lower FIPS Encryption Level compared to IBM?
FIPS 140-2 is a standard which handles cryptographic modules and the ones that organizations use to encrypt data-at-rest and data-in-motion. FIPS 140-2 has 4 levels of security, with level 1 being the least secure, and level 4 being the most secure.<p>Google Cloud has level 1, and IBM Cloud level 4.<p>Why did Google not pursue level 4, and does it matter? If it does matter, under which circumstances would a company choose to select IBM Cloud due to this higher level?