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New Era of Government Cloud Security

New Era of Government Cloud Security

As a sign that cloud technologies will continue to play a permanent role in assisting U.S. government agencies in deploying secure and innovative solutions to accomplish their missions, the FedRAMP Authorization Act was recently signed into law as part of the defense authorization bill.

Policymakers on Capitol Hill and in the Biden administration further acknowledge the significance of industry partners in enhancing the resilience and security of government services through this legislation.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, is the foundation for government cloud security. FedRAMP is a program that the U.S. federal government uses to standardize security assessment, authorization, and monitoring for cloud service use. A memorandum from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) granted authorization for the program in 2011, and the General Services Administration (GSA) established the program office for it in 2012.

FedRAMP had been in place for ten years, but it had not been officially codified in law. We’ve seen significant advancements in the ways in which government agencies use cloud technology to enhance service delivery and mission accomplishment. Government agencies have demonstrated that cloud technologies enable them to rapidly deploy secure, resilient, and agile systems, from its adoption by the Intelligence Community to its use in space missions. Additionally, they are able to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time, for less money, and at a rate that was previously unimaginable. New Era of Government Cloud Security

The FedRAMP Authorization Act, authored by U.S. Congressman Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and praised by Amazon Web Services (AWS) encourages cloud adoption and security package reuse. to set the FedRAMP program in stone. Recognition of the significance of the cloud in protecting federal systems and FedRAMP’s role in ensuring that security has been signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

The importance of safeguarding the security of our federal systems has never been greater. The United States Government must ensure that it is utilizing best-in-class security services in order to carry out its crucial missions in light of the rising volume and sophistication of cybersecurity attacks and evolving geopolitical security threats worldwide. FedRAMP’s “do once, reuse many times” philosophy will also help mission teams across the government save money by optimizing security by utilizing preexisting system security packages.

In this equation, industry plays a significant role. The Federal Secure Cloud Advisory Committee, for instance, is established by the FedRAMP Authorization Act and is tasked with coordinating agency acquisition, authorization, adoption, and utilization of cloud computing technologies.

The committee will be a new way to officially engage with industry partners to improve the government’s management of cloud accreditations and align the use of those services with agency goals and missions. The FedRAMP program will evolve to address the most difficult security issues facing the U.S. government today with the assistance of a joint group of partners from the government and the business sector like this committee.

We place the highest value on security, and AWS has been designed to be the most adaptable and secure cloud computing environment currently available. FedRAMP authorizations have been granted to both the AWS US East-West region and the AWS GovCloud region, which was created to meet the security and compliance requirements of the United States Government.

FedRAMP is supported by AWS, as it has been from the beginning. In addition to incorporating cloud technologies into their existing programs and missions, U.S. government agencies are developing new services. By formally codifying the FedRAMP program through legislation, the United States government can better support the delivery of essential citizen services in an ever-evolving security landscape, utilize industry-leading cloud services, and safeguard federal systems.