FedRAMP

FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program).

• BLUF: It's a set of guidelines that ensures security for cloud-based services used by the US government.

• FedRAMP Usage: (3)

  1. Establishes a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and monitoring for cloud products and services used by the government.

  2. Basically, it creates a checklist that cloud service providers (CSPs) need to follow to ensure their products are secure for handling government data.

  3. FedRAMP authorization is mandatory for any cloud service provider that wants to work with the US federal government.

• Value: (4)

  1. Standardization and Streamlining: FedRAMP prevents individual government agencies from needing to create their own security requirements. This saves time and money for both the agencies and the CSPs.

  2. Security and Credibility: FedRAMP authorization signifies that a cloud service has undergone a rigorous security assessment & authorization (A&A) process. This gives federal agencies confidence that their data is safe in the cloud.

  3. Increased Cloud Adoption: FedRAMP removes a big hurdle for government agencies that want to adopt cloud technologies. By having a standardized security framework, agencies can move to the cloud more quickly and securely.

  4. * FedRAMP can also be valuable for private companies, even those that don't work with the government. A FedRAMP authorization demonstrates a strong commitment to security, which can be a selling point for any private customer.

• Duration: Approx. 9 months to ATO (Authority to Operate). The overall estimated timeline is dependent on the Cloud Service Providers (CSP) security documentation maturation and submission time.

• Process: 

  1. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): This is created by the CSP. The CSP will have details on the timeline to complete the process. 

  2. Human-in-the-loop (HITL) and automated processes, or both in progress... In reviewing the Archer tool, for example.