Episode 1 — Navigate the FedRAMP Landscape
FedRAMP—short for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program—is the U.S. government’s standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring of cloud services used by federal agencies. This episode orients you to the moving parts: the FedRAMP Program Management Office (PMO), the Joint Authorization Board (JAB), authorizing agencies, accredited third-party assessment organizations (3PAOs), and the vendors seeking authorizations for their cloud offerings. You will learn where policy comes from, how NIST controls and publications underpin requirements, and why marketplaces and reuse mechanisms matter for time-to-value. We clarify the difference between “in process,” “authorized,” and “ready,” how packages flow through review, and what documentation sets a credible baseline for later evaluation. The goal is to make the ecosystem legible so you can anticipate expectations, reduce surprises, and connect each artifact to the decision it supports.
With that map in hand, we examine typical entry points and pathways: Agency ATOs driven by a single mission need, JAB provisional ATOs targeting broad reuse, and transition patterns as systems evolve. We connect roles to deliverables—the System Security Plan, assessment artifacts, Plan of Actions and Milestones, and continuous monitoring submissions—and explain how governance cadences create deadlines for scans, penetration tests, incident reporting, and annual assessments. Common pitfalls include undefined authorization boundaries, mismatched baselines, and overpromised shared responsibility models; we show how to avoid them by aligning scope early and documenting assumptions precisely. By the end, you know who does what, what they expect from you, and how decisions are recorded so authorizations stand up to scrutiny. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with.
