The protection of sensitive data and information is critical, particularly for government agencies and organizations. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) was created to address the unique issues that the federal government has while using cloud services. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the intricacies of FedRAMP, exploring its purpose, certification process, marketplace, requirements, and the role of FedRAMP consultants.
What is FedRAMP
FedRAMP, which stands for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, is a federal government-wide program that assesses, authorizes, and monitors cloud service providers (CSPs) employed by federal agencies. Its primary goal is to secure and protect federal data stored and processed in cloud environments. Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program enables agencies to adopt cloud services with confidence by standardizing the security assessment process and promoting efficiency, cost savings, and innovation.
What Types of Businesses Need to Be FedRAMP Compliant?
If your company offers cloud computing or software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and wants to work with a US government agency, you must be able to demonstrate that your system is FedRAMP compliant. Every federal government contract includes standardized language for FedRAMP obligations.
To be able to sell your system to a federal government agency, you’ll need to get proper authorization for your system. Getting through the FedRAMP authorization process will involve a large amount of work from your organization. As such, it is crucial to understand the FedRAMP authorization process as soon as you decide to target federal agencies as customers. However, before you start the FedRAMP compliance journey, you need to have a system that is fully developed and operating, and a leadership team that’s committed and fully bought into the FedRAMP process.
FedRAMP Marketplace
The FedRAMP Marketplace serves as a central repository for FedRAMP-authorized cloud service offerings. It provides a comprehensive list of pre-vetted, compliant cloud service providers to federal agencies, easing the procurement process. The marketplace enables agencies to find CSPs that meet their specific needs, such as service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), deployment models (public, private, hybrid), and security impact levels (low, moderate, high).
FedRAMP Certification
FedRAMP certification indicates that a cloud service provider has met stringent security requirements and has been thoroughly evaluated by an authorized third-party assessment organization (3PAO). It demonstrates the provider’s commitment to putting in place strong security controls and safeguards, instilling trust in federal agencies and potential customers. FedRAMP certification provides CSPs with a competitive advantage by allowing them to reach a broader customer base that includes federal agencies and other organizations looking for enhanced security measures.
The FedRAMP certification process is divided into several stages, the first of which is the selection of a suitable cloud service provider. Once chosen, the CSP must go through a comprehensive security assessment performed by an accredited 3PAO. This evaluation assesses the provider’s compliance with the FedRAMP security controls and requirements. After the assessment is completed successfully, the CSP submits a package to the FedRAMP Program Management Office (PMO) for review and authorization. Finally, the CSP receives FedRAMP authorization, allowing it to provide cloud services to federal agencies.
Why is a FedRAMP Certification Important?
All cloud services holding federal data must have FedRAMP authorization. If you want to work with the federal government, FedRAMP authorization is an important part of your security plan.
FedRAMP ensures consistency in the security of the government’s cloud services. Further, it ensures consistency in evaluating and monitoring that security. It provides one set of standards for all government agencies and all cloud providers.
FedRAMP lists cloud service providers that are FedRAMP authorized in the FedRAMP Marketplace. This marketplace is where government agencies go to source a new cloud-based solution. It’s considerably easier for an agency to employ a product that’s already authorized than to start the process with a new vendor.
So, a listing in the FedRAMP marketplace makes you much more likely to get more business from government agencies. But it might also increase your profile in the private sector. That’s because the FedRAMP marketplace is visible to the public. Any private sector company can browse the FedRAMP-approved solutions list. It’s a great resource when they’re looking to source a secure cloud product or service.
FedRAMP authorization can make any client more confident about a provider’s security protocols. It represents an ongoing commitment to meeting the highest security standards. FedRAMP authorization boosts your security credibility beyond the FedRAMP Marketplace, too. You can post your FedRAMP permission on social media and your website.
The truth is that most of your clients probably don’t know what the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program is. They don’t care whether you’re authorized or not. But for those large clients who do understand Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program obligations – in both the public and private sectors – lack of authorization may be a deal-breaker.
What does it Take to get FedRAMP Certified?
There are two alternative ways to get FedRAMP accredited. Both approaches include three main stages:
- Preparation
- Authorization
- Monitoring
The FedRAMP Board, acting as the JAB, prioritizes approximately 12 cloud service offerings per year through a process called FedRAMP Connect. They announce the selection timeframes throughout the year on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program blog.
In this process, the cloud services provider creates a relationship with a specific federal agency. That agency stays involved throughout the process. If the procedure is completed successfully, the agency will issue an Authority to Operate.
If you want to pursue agency authorization, the recommended first step is to partner with a recognized third-party assessment organization to create a Readiness Assessment Report. The FedRAMP Marketplace contains a list of recognized assessors.
Next, you need to formalize your relationship with a government agency. Throughout the FedRAMP certification process, they will be your partner. When you’re ready, start by filling out a Cloud Services Provider Information Form.
The process of achieving FedRAMP authorization can be tough. However, once the authorization process begins, it is in everyone’s best interest for cloud service providers to succeed. It assisted by interviewing several small businesses and start-ups about the lessons learned during authorization.
FedRAMP Certification Best Practices
There are a series of recommended practices for demonstrating maturity and increasing the chances that an Authorizing Official (AO) will approve your development security strategy.
- Choose and Implement Technical Security Measures: The Authorizing Official (AO) will carefully examine your offering, looking for reasons to distrust your security measures. This is especially true if you use third-party tools and have a large number of API connections to various providers.
- Pipeline Security for CI/CD: Demonstrating maturity is crucial for firms using a modern continuous integration continuous deployment (CI/CD) software development method.
- Avoid approaches based on Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Infrastructure-as-code (IaC) approaches make dealing with large infrastructures and deployments easier in general. However, using orchestration technologies like CloudFormation, Azure ARM, Terraform, or similar solutions to deploy templates can expose your infrastructure to known vulnerabilities.
- Formal Threat Modeling: Software threat modeling is a much more advanced field than standard risk assessment. In threat modeling, potential attack techniques are linked to system operations and specific code parts.
- Delay Development Deployments to Federal Customers: Many CSPs believe that applying Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program regulations uniformly across their federal and non-federal customers is too difficult. As a result, they designate specific settings for government clients, while the commercial production environment serves as a testing ground. Before being deployed to the government environment, the code is run and scanned at least once a month.
FedRAMP Consultant
For cloud service providers, navigating the complexities of the FedRAMP certification process can be difficult. FedRAMP consultants play an important role in assisting CSPs on their path to certification. These consultants are well-versed in FedRAMP requirements, security controls, and the assessment process. They offer CSPs advice, support, and expertise, assisting them in preparing for the rigorous assessment and ensuring compliance with FedRAMP standards.
FedRAMP Requirements
FedRAMP establishes a set of baseline security controls and requirements that CSPs must implement to achieve certification. Access control, incident response, continuous monitoring, configuration management, and data security are among the areas covered by these standards. CSPs must demonstrate their capacity to address these standards effectively, giving documentation of their security policies and processes.
Benefits of FedRAMP Compliance
Achieving FedRAMP compliance offers numerous benefits for both cloud service providers and federal agencies. It boosts CSPs’ credibility and marketability by allowing them to demonstrate their commitment to security while also gaining access to the lucrative federal market. It simplifies the process of selecting and procuring cloud services for federal agencies, ensuring that they have access to secure and reliable solutions. Compliance with FedRAMP also promotes consistency in security practices, improves risk management, and fosters collaboration between agencies and CSPs.
Examples of FedRAMP-Certified Products
FedRAMP-authorized products and services come in a variety of forms. Here are a few examples from cloud service providers you may already be familiar with and use.
- Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program-certified social media management dashboard. Several major government agencies use Hootsuite to achieve a range of federal objectives.
- Amazon Web Services: There are two AWS listings in the FedRAMP Marketplace. AWS GovCloud is authorized at the High level. AWS US East/West is authorized at the Moderate level.
AWS GovCloud now has 49 authorizations and 718 reuse ATOs. AWS has 59 authorizations and 633 reuse ATOs in the US East/West region. That’s far more than any other listing in the FedRAMP Marketplace. - Google Workspace: Google Workspace was authorized in 2021 through the JAB Authorization Process at the High Level. It has 14 authorizations and 284 reuse ATOs.
- Adobe Analytics: Adobe Analytics was authorized in 2019. It is used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is allowed at the LI-SaaS level.
Adobe has several products that are authorized at the LI-SaaS level. (Examples include Adobe Campaign and Adobe Document Cloud.) Remember that it’s the service, not the service provider, that gets authorization. Like Adobe, you could have to pursue numerous authorizations if you offer more than one cloud-based tool. - Slack: Authorized in May 2020, Slack has 11 FedRAMP authorizations and 142 reuse ATOs. The product is authorized at the Moderate level. Slack originally received the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program tailored authorization. Then, they pursued Moderate authorization by partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
How do I become a FedRAMP certified?
There are two approaches to obtaining “FedRAMP Authorized” status on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program Marketplace. Interested parties may apply through either the Joint Authorization Board or a federal agency.
How much does it cost to go through FedRAMP?
FedRAMP compliance is needed for all federal agencies that use cloud computing services. The cost of compliance varies depending on the size and complexity of the organization but can range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. The process of achieving compliance can take several months to a year or more.
Is FedRAMP based on NIST 800-53?
Yes, FedRAMP is based on Special Publication 800-53 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-53 provides a comprehensive set of security controls and recommendations for federal information systems and organizations. Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program combines and aligns with the NIST 800-53 security controls, customizing them explicitly for cloud service providers (CSPs) and the unique requirements of federal agencies using cloud services.
How hard is FedRAMP?
FedRAMP, with its stringent security requirements and complex certification process, can be a difficult process for cloud service providers (CSPs). The challenge level, however, can vary based on the CSP’s preparedness, resources, and expertise.
How long does it take to get FedRAMP certified?
It takes roughly 7-9 months to complete a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program JAB P-ATO assessment. An agency ATO can take anywhere from 4-6 months to complete. A CSP-supplied package can likely be completed in 2-3 months.
Conclusion
As government agencies increasingly embrace cloud services, FedRAMP plays a key role in assuring the security, integrity, and privacy of federal data. By offering a consistent approach to reviewing and certifying cloud service providers, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program instills trust in the government’s cloud adoption plan.
The FedRAMP Marketplace, the certification process, and the aid of FedRAMP experts all contribute to making the route toward Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program compliance smoother and more efficient. As the program evolves, it will continue to enhance cloud security practices and enable agencies to leverage the benefits of the cloud securely.
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