Ep. 47 Understanding FedRAMP High and Platform Technology

February 7, 2023

(Recorded at Monk’s BBQ, in lovely downtown Purcellville, VA)

Akamai has been around the security community for so long that they almost deserve the term, “venerable.” They first made a big splash on September 11, 2001. That was the day The Washington Post was overwhelmed by traffic. Some quick work from Akamai helped newspapers and organizations keep up to speed.

In its early years, Akamai was known as a Content Delivery Network that helped websites adjust to wide fluctuations in traffic and increase speed for website loading. After demonstrating that prowess, federal technology professionals understood Akamai to have a very geographically diverse content delivery network that had a deep understanding of network traffic and was agile enough to adapt to a wide range of conditions.

Building on this unparalleled knowledge, Akamai is able to assist in preventing cyberattacks on commercial and federal systems. This interview has two subject matter experts describe how this ubiquitous network puts Akamai in a unique position to serve federal cybersecurity needs.

Rob San Martin presents some innovations that Akamai has for technology partners. Traditionally, Akamai has been viewed as a unified product. A customer would be able to use the entire platform or not at all. Today, Akamai can split off aspects of its offering to fill in the gaps of some point-based solutions.

"that ubiquity that Akamai brings to the table because of our presence around the world"

Rob San Martin, Akamai Tweet

Patrick Sullivan details how Akamai’s entrance into FedRAMP High allows it to protect data for critical applications like law enforcement, emergency services, and healthcare.

Many listeners are familiar with the grueling process that gives solution providers the ability to offer cloud-based solutions to the federal government. FedRAMP was initially introduced back in 2011. It has evolved a rigorous set of rules that are accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA). Based on a long list of controls provided by NIST SP 800-52, the base certification process can take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve.

Each agency must deal with data that has varying levels of security. As a result, the FedRAMP certification has evolved into three levels: low, moderate, and high. Each level ramps up the level of sensitive information it can handle, up to High – where a breach of this level of data could lead to a disaster.

Akamai has built on its platform to be able to serve federal clients in many levels.

If you enjoyed this article, you may want to listen to Ep. 40 The Rise of the Machines in Federal Technology