Amazon Web Services is the latest vendor to pass a rigorous security review for all federal cloud products and services.
So far, only CGI Federal and North Carolina-based Autonomic Resources have completed the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). The governmentwide program was launched in June to standardize security reviews of commercial cloud products and is housed within the General Services Administration.
Under the FedRAMP program, Amazon was granted an Authority to Operate (ATO) by the Health and Human Services Department. This means HHS has certified that Amazon’s GovCloud and regional cloud service offerings meet federal security standards, and the company’s services are authorized for use at HHS. The purpose of FedRAMP is for other agencies to save time and money by using or building on the security review HHS has done.
More than 300 government agencies are currently using Amazon Web Services, Teresa Carlson, vice president of worldwide public sector, said in a statement.
By June 2014, all cloud services and products in use at federal agencies or in an active acquisition process must meet FedRAMP requirements.
