Windows Phone is not alone in this respect, BlackBerry 10 has this certification, as does iOS (in certain configurations of handset and iOS version), and a number of Android handsets (the first being the Samsung Galaxy S4). So Windows Phone has parity with the other leading handsets, and can take them on in in the tendering process.
Where this might hand an advantage to Windows Phone is for government contracts on a budget - looking at SIM free prices, the Nokia Lumia 520 looks to be the cheapest FIPS 140-2 certified device in the current market.
From the blog post:
In all, Windows Phone 8 received accreditation for nine cryptographic certificates (listed below). The accreditation was awarded by the Cryptographic Module Validation Program, a joint effort of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Communications Security Establishment Canada, the country’s national cryptologic agency.
- Kernel Mode Cryptographic Primitives Library (CNG.SYS)
- Cryptographic Primitives Library (BCRYPTPRIMITIVES.DLL)
- Enhanced DSS and Diffie-Hellman Cryptographic Provider (DSSENH.DLL)
- Enhanced Cryptographic Provider (RSAENH.DLL)
- Boot Manager
- BitLocker Windows OS Loader (WINLOAD)
- Code Integrity (CI.DLL)
- BitLocker Windows Resume (WINRESUME)
- BitLocker Dump Filter (DUMPFVE.SYS)
You can read the full blog post here. Now let's see what Windows Phone can do with this rather important bit of paper.