Episode 7 — Clarify Shared Responsibility Matrix
This episode focuses on building a defensible Shared Responsibility Matrix (SRM) that prevents gaps between a cloud service provider, the underlying platform, and federal customers. We start by translating control intent into discrete, verifiable responsibilities: who designs, who implements, who operates, and who provides evidence. We explain how to map each control and enhancement to the responsible party across SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS service models, and how to express inherited coverage from the cloud platform or external services without overstating it. We also address parameter selection and control tailoring, since undefined parameters frequently hide ownership ambiguity and produce assessment friction later. The goal is an SRM that exam reviewers can read quickly and auditors can test without guesswork.
We then turn to validation and maintenance. You will learn to pair each SRM entry with specific evidence types—policies, procedures, configuration exports, screenshots, logs, and approvals—so responsibilities are provable during both initial assessment and continuous monitoring. We discuss edge cases such as customer-managed encryption keys, bring-your-own-IdP integrations, and tenant-specific logging, and we show how to document split responsibilities that change across deployment tiers or subscription options. Practical guidance includes embedding SRM excerpts into the SSP narrative where controls are implemented, aligning SRM language with contracts and service catalogs, and establishing a quarterly review to reflect product changes before they surface as findings. Done well, the SRM becomes the single source of truth that keeps security work coordinated, evidence predictable, and risk acceptance explicit. 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.
