FedRAMP Medium ==> High Compliance Guide

This document outlines how the FedRAMP High Event-Driven Data Mesh architecture meets FedRAMP High security requirements.

FedRAMP Overview

FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. FedRAMP High is the most stringent baseline, designed for systems that process highly sensitive unclassified data.

Security Controls Implementation

Access Control (AC)

Control	Implementation
AC-1: Access Control Policy and Procedures	Comprehensive access control policies documented and enforced
AC-2: Account Management	AWS IAM for identity and access management, with regular reviews
AC-3: Access Enforcement	Fine-grained access controls at multiple levels (AWS IAM, Databricks Unity Catalog, Kafka ACLs)
AC-4: Information Flow Enforcement	Network segmentation, VPC design, Security Groups
AC-5: Separation of Duties	Role-based access control, preventing privilege escalation
AC-17: Remote Access	Secure VPN access with MFA
AC-18: Wireless Access	Not applicable - no wireless access to the platform

Audit and Accountability (AU)

Control	Implementation
AU-1: Audit and Accountability Policy and Procedures	Comprehensive audit policies documented
AU-2: Audit Events	AWS CloudTrail, service-specific logs, application logs
AU-3: Content of Audit Records	Detailed audit records including timestamps, user IDs, actions
AU-4: Audit Storage Capacity	Adequate storage for audit logs (S3 with lifecycle policies)
AU-5: Response to Audit Processing Failures	Alerts for audit failures
AU-6: Audit Review, Analysis, and Reporting	Regular review and analysis of audit logs
AU-7: Audit Reduction and Report Generation	CloudWatch Logs Insights, Security Hub, custom dashboards
AU-8: Time Stamps	NTP synchronized timestamps across all components
AU-9: Protection of Audit Information	Encrypted and tamper-proof audit logs

Configuration Management (CM)

Control	Implementation
CM-1: Configuration Management Policy and Procedures	Comprehensive configuration management policies documented
CM-2: Baseline Configuration	Infrastructure as Code (Terraform) for baseline configurations
CM-3: Configuration Change Control	Change management process with approvals
CM-6: Configuration Settings	Secure configuration settings enforced through IaC
CM-7: Least Functionality	Minimal services installed, unnecessary services disabled
CM-8: Information System Component Inventory	Automated inventory tracking
CM-9: Configuration Management Plan	Comprehensive CM plan documented

Identification and Authentication (IA)

Control	Implementation
IA-1: Identification and Authentication Policy and Procedures	Comprehensive IAM policies documented
IA-2: Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)	MFA for all user access
IA-3: Device Identification and Authentication	Device authentication for system access
IA-4: Identifier Management	Unique identifiers for all users and processes
IA-5: Authenticator Management	Secure password policies, key rotation
IA-8: Identification and Authentication (Non-Organizational Users)	Similar controls for external users

System and Communications Protection (SC)

Control	Implementation
SC-1: System and Communications Protection Policy	Comprehensive protection policies documented
SC-7: Boundary Protection	Network segmentation, firewalls, VPC design
SC-8: Transmission Confidentiality and Integrity	TLS for all communications
SC-12: Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management	AWS KMS for key management
SC-13: Cryptographic Protection	FIPS-validated cryptography
SC-28: Protection of Information at Rest	KMS encryption for all data at rest

System and Information Integrity (SI)

Control	Implementation
SI-1: System and Information Integrity Policy	Comprehensive integrity policies documented
SI-2: Flaw Remediation	Regular patching and vulnerability management
SI-3: Malicious Code Protection	Anti-malware solutions, container scanning
SI-4: Information System Monitoring	AWS GuardDuty, CloudWatch, Security Hub
SI-5: Security Alerts, Advisories, and Directives	Security notifications and response process
SI-7: Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity	File integrity monitoring, image signing

Continuous Monitoring

The following continuous monitoring activities are implemented:

1. Daily:

   • Automated security scans
   • Log analysis for security events
   • Infrastructure health checks

2. Weekly:

   • Vulnerability scanning
   • Security control compliance checks
   • Access review for critical systems

3. Monthly:

   • Comprehensive security review
   • Patch status verification
   • Penetration testing (rotating focus)

4. Quarterly:

   • Full system security assessment
   • Third-party security reviews
   • Table-top security exercises

Incident Response

An incident response plan is documented and regularly tested, with the following components:

1. Detection and Analysis:

   • Security monitoring tools
   • Alert thresholds and triggers
   • Initial assessment procedures

2. Containment, Eradication, and Recovery:

   • Containment strategies by incident type
   • Eradication procedures
   • Recovery processes and verification

3. Post-Incident Activity:

   • Root cause analysis
   • Lessons learned
   • Improvement implementation

Documentation and Evidence

All security controls are documented with supporting evidence, including:

1. Policies and Procedures:

   • Access control policies
   • Incident response procedures
   • Change management processes

2. Technical Documentation:

   • Architecture diagrams
   • Configuration settings
   • Security control implementation details

3. Testing Evidence:

   • Penetration testing reports
   • Vulnerability scan results
   • Security control assessment reports

4. Operational Records:

   • Access review logs
   • Patching history
   • Incident response reports

Conclusion

The FedRAMP High Event-Driven Data Mesh architecture is designed to meet or exceed all FedRAMP High security requirements. By implementing these controls and processes, the platform provides a secure environment for processing sensitive government data while enabling the benefits of a decentralized, domain-driven data architecture.