Published on January 2nd, 2013 | by Roger Chu
Feds Issue First Cloud Services Security Authorization
In a bid to accelerate and make more cost-effective the adoption of cloud computing, the federal government Thursday issued the first government-wide security authorization for a cloud computing service as part of the new Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
The FedRAMP program will eventually be a mandatory, common approach to ensuring that cloud computing services meet federal cybersecurity requirements. It will replace the historically agency-by-agency and therefore often duplicative approach to certifying that services meet these requirements. For now, though, almost 19 months after being announced, FedRAMP is still just getting off the ground.
In issuing the authorization on Thursday, the General Services Administration met its goal of finalizing its first security authorization by the end of 2012 and vaulted little-known North Carolina-based government contractor Autonomic Resources LLC, which received the authorization, into the public eye.
Full article by J. Nicholas Hoover, Senior Editor, InformationWeek Government