As more government agencies move sensitive data to the cloud, ensuring security and compliance is of paramount importance. As such, the FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) assessment and authorization process is a critical framework to ensure that cloud environments meet federal security standards.

Your IoT devices sit on your client’s networks. They may even sit there for years without the ability to obtain software updates. Your clients may even expose these devices directly to the Internet with no network firewall in place. All the same, your clients still expect these devices to always be available and secure. Before deploying these devices, your team should consider a IoT/hardware penetration test. However, before you begin this process, let’s discuss the uniqueness of this style of engagement, followed by traps to look out for when selecting a provider.

Recent changes to FedRAMP® have sparked conversations about the program’s future, but one fact remains clear: FedRAMP is here to stay. Recognized as a critical program by the General Services Administration (GSA), it plays a key role in ensuring the security of cloud services used by federal agencies. That said, as the program evolves, notable changes are imminent.

If your organization is looking for a way to showcase your commitment to security and compliance to the general public, a SOC 3 report might be the perfect solution. SOC 3 reports offer a high-level summary of your system and controls, tailored for sharing with a broad audience.

Adhering to a single security framework alone is likely no longer sufficient for providing the protection and assurance needed for today’s complex and evolving security and compliance landscape. Whether prospects and customers are demanding different assurances, you’ve adopted new technologies that warrant particular controls, or you’re trying to break into a new market that features its own specific compliance as a prerequisite, it's common for your organization to be on the hook for multiple assessments.

In any information security program, mobile applications should be considered for inclusion in penetration tests. No matter the size of an application, it may serve as an avenue of attack against your environment or users and the threat potential of these applications is similar to that of web applications. In fact, some mobile apps are effectively web apps with a wrapper while others utilize a unique frontend, but with a backend web API.

Cybersecurity is no longer just a best practice—it’s a necessity, a foundational pillar of our national security. For over a decade, FedRAMP, or the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, has set the gold standard for securing the federal government’s cloud infrastructure, saving time, resources, and taxpayer dollars. But today, we stand at a crossroads. The challenges in front of us - bureaucratic roadblocks, inefficiencies, and budget constraints - threaten to unravel years of progress. The question is clear: Will we rise to the occasion, modernizing FedRAMP without sacrificing its integrity? Or will we allow short-term obstacles to drag us backward into an era of duplication, inconsistency, and increased vulnerability?

Given today’s continually evolving threat landscape, strengthening access controls is an essential element and growing priority of any robust security program. As such, it’s no surprise multi-factor authentication (MFA) has become a widely adopted compliance requirement by a significant number of security standards across industries. That said, it can be difficult to understand the intricacies of the MFA regulations for each compliance framework.