Microsoft has accused Google of misleading the government about the security certification of its program suite "Google Apps for Government".
Google has rejected the charges in the row with Microsoft over the $60m contract with the US Department of Interior.
Microsoft said documents showed that the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) had not certified "Google Apps for Government" and that Google is in the process of applying for certification for the suite.
The documents are part of a Google lawsuit alleging that it was improperly kept out of a new e-mail system contract for US Department of Interior. Microsoft had won the contract.
Microsoft’s deputy general counsel David Howard wrote in a blog, "Given the number of times that Google has touted this claim, this was no small development."
"It’s time for Google to stop telling governments something that is not true."
Google has said that it is not misleading anyone as another program that was similar in function had been cleared by FISMA.
It said, "We did not mislead the court or our customers," adding that "Google Apps" received a FISMA clearance in July 2010, and that "Google Apps for Government" is "the same system with enhanced security controls that go beyond FISMA requirements."
