Summary

By leveraging RegScale as part of its tech stack, this military agency established a platform for rapid implementation of ATO and quick adoption of new cloud technologies in the DoD.

Challenge: overcoming compliance hurdles in cloud security

In their quest to establish a seamless and secure access to Government Cloud, this military agency faced many hurdles. For starters, the initial Authority to Operate (ATO) process for new cloud technologies typically spans more than 18 months with traditional methods, significantly draining resources in both time and money. This lengthy process hiders rapid innovation and the adoption of new technologies. Moreover, reliance on manual processes across programs was highly inefficient, ineffective, and not scalable.

The team knew that a radical transformation was required to achieve their mission, “To establish secure access to Government Cloud, that provides a commercial like experience, to conduct research, development, engineering and test while moving security left through automation; also, to provide a capability to automate cybersecurity requirements through a RegOps framework so each system/application component is ATO ready at the time of deployment.”

Solution: revolutionizing cloud security compliance with automation

The agency embarked to revolutionize their approach to Government Cloud security and compliance. They sought “compliance-as-code” automation, featuring self-updating paperwork that drastically eliminates the manual effort for compliance activities in the software development process.

Using RegScale, they speed up the process, gain visibility, and enhance quality and reliability of security measures. This includes automating the build-out and monitoring of the NIST Risk management Framework (RMF) and updates to System Security Plans (SSPs).

Real-time dashboards, reports, and alerts were implemented to provide proactive security and compliance oversight, ensuring any potential issues could be addressed promptly. The innovative approach to compliance, powered by extreme automation and continuous controls monitoring engines, bridged the gaps between security, risk and compliance.

Result: rapid certification and accelerated time to ATO

COSMOS stands for Cloud Operations, Security, Management and Optimization at Speed of Commercial (COSMOS). This is a service hosted by the U.S. Navy’s Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC PAC). RegScale provides the capability within COSMOS that enables GRC outcomes faster and at lower cost than legacy programs currently deliver.

The introduction of compliance as code, the automation of the RMF process and SSP generation, and the utilization of real-time dashboards lowered program costs and dramatically sped up the time to ATO.

Continuous controls monitoring has minimized painful handoffs between teams and eliminated many inefficient manual operations, transforming the landscape of government cloud security compliance.

Reference herein to any specific commercial companies, products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, or Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.