Federal agencies are quickly adopting new and more advanced IT and security technologies to facilitate their work. This fact, in turn, means that they are turning to vendors that probably use the cloud in some way to provide those services. SaaS applications, cloud storage, and the demand for analytics and insight are making cloud real estate a hot commodity for these agencies. That’s why the federal government, coordinating through federal technical guidelines and laws, requires Cloud Service Providers to adhere to the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP before providing services to partner agencies.

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What Is Autonomous Malware?

We’re reaching the end of 2025, and looking ahead to 2026, most experts are discussing the latest threats that will shape the year ahead. This year, we’re seeing a new, but not unexpected, shift to autonomous threats driven by state-sponsored actors and AI.  With that in mind, a new generation of threats, broadly known as...Continue reading→

What CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-01 Means for Everyone

In mid-October 2025, the CISA issued one of its most urgent orders yet: Emergency Directive 26-01. The directive calls on all Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to immediately mitigate vulnerabilities in devices from F5 Networks following a state-sponsored breach of F5’s systems and access to portions of BIG-IP source code and vulnerability data. The event...Continue reading→

Cybersecurity and Vetting AI-Powered Tools

A recent exploit involving a new AI-focused browser shone a light on a critical problem–namely, that browser security is a constant issue, and AI is just making that threat more pronounced. Attackers discovered a way to use that browser’s memory features to implant hidden instructions inside an AI assistant. Once stored, those instructions triggered unwanted...Continue reading→

Shutdown Security And Cyber Vulnerability

When the federal government shuts down, the public sees closed monuments, unpaid workers, and halted programs. What they do not see is the silent surge of cyberattacks targeting agencies already operating on fumes. During the most recent shutdown, attacks against U.S. government systems spiked by nearly 85%.  Cybersecurity failures during government disruptions rarely start with...Continue reading→

Identity and the Shift from Malware

The world of cyber threats is rapidly evolving, and while we can see these changes more generally, it’s always crucial to understand them concretely. As the 2025 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report shows us, the landscape of our industry is changing.  We’re digging into this report to discuss a challenging trend: the move of hackers foregoing...Continue reading→

Maintaining Compliance Against Prompt Injection Attacks

The increasing adoption of AI by businesses introduces security risks that current cybersecurity frameworks are not prepared to address. A particularly complex emerging threat is prompt injection attacks. These attacks manipulate the integrity of large language models and other AI systems, potentially compromising security protocols and legal compliance. Organizations adopting AI must have a plan...Continue reading→

Are We Already Talking About CMMC 3.0?

The ink has barely dried on the CMMC final rule, and already the defense contracting community is buzzing with speculation about what comes next. Just when contractors thought they had a moment to catch their breath after years of regulatory limbo, whispers of CMMC 3.0 have begun circulating through the industry. But is this just...Continue reading→

Centralizing Identity-Based Risk

As the traditional network boundary dissolves and remote work becomes standard practice, identities are the major frontier for security. Whether we’re talking about human users, service accounts, or machine identities, these have emerged as both the primary access mechanism and the most targeted attack vector.  It has become imperative for providers to centralize identity management...Continue reading→

Deviation and Significant Change Requests in FedRAMP: A Comprehensive Guide

FedRAMP provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by federal agencies. While the program’s rigorous baseline requirements ensure consistent security, the reality is that this consistency calls for a little flexibility.  This is where deviation requests and significant change requests come into play. These two...Continue reading→

The Costs of Compliance and Data Breaches

Data is possibly one of the most valuable assets any organization holds. Customer information, employee records, and proprietary business intelligence present challenges because the data flowing through modern enterprises represents both significant opportunities and serious risks.  Businesses face a challenging balance: investing in compliance measures to protect sensitive information while also preparing for the real...Continue reading→

FISMA vs. FedRAMP and NIST: Making Sense of Government Compliance Standards

FISMA, FedRAMP, NIST, DFARS, CJIS, HIPAA … Government compliance standards can seem like a veritable alphabet soup. Making matters even worse, a lot of them overlap, and many organizations aren’t certain which standards they need to comply with.

Even if your organization does not currently operate in the public sector, it is important to understand the fundamentals of FISMA, FedRAMP, and NIST. First, the U.S. government is the single largest buyer of goods and services in the world, and your company may ultimately want to tap this lucrative market. Second, any information security standards that the federal government implements will ultimately trickle down into state and local laws, as well as industry frameworks.

What is NIST?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a non-regulatory agency that is part of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is “To promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.”

Among many other responsibilities, NIST creates and promotes information security standards for the federal government. These standards are outlined in NIST’s SP-800 series of publications, including NIST SP 800-53 (also known as NIST 800-53), which outlines security controls for federal information systems and organizations and documents security controls for all federal information systems, except those designed for national security. Federal agencies must comply with NIST guidelines and standards within one year of their publication.

The controls outlined in NIST 800-53 are the basis for FISMA as well as FedRAMP, DFARS, CJIS, HIPAA, FedRAMP +, FedRAMP DoD IL 2, 4, 5, 6 and others.

What is FISMA?

FISMA was first enacted in 2002 as the Federal Information Security Management Act, then updated in 2014 to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act. FISMA applies to:

• All federal government agencies
• State agencies that administer federal programs, such as Medicare/Medicaid and student loans
• All private-sector firms that support federal programs, sell services to the federal government, or receive federal grant money

In a nutshell, FISMA requires the implementation of information security controls that utilize a risk-based approach. The primary framework for FISMA compliance is NIST 800-53. Organizations that demonstrate FISMA compliance are awarded an Authority to Operate (ATO) from the federal agency they are doing business with. This ATO applies only to that particular agency; if an organization has contracts with multiple federal agencies, they must obtain an ATO from each one. The logic behind this is that because every federal agency has different data security needs and vulnerabilities, different controls may apply. A FISMA assessment may be performed directly by the agency granting the ATO or a third-party security assessor.

What is FedRAMP?

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) was designed to support the federal government’s “cloud-first” initiative by making it easier for federal agencies to contract with cloud providers. Like FISMA, the controls outlined in FedRAMP are based on NIST 800-53.

Unlike FISMA, which requires organizations to seek an ATO from each individual federal agency, a FedRAMP ATO qualifies a cloud service provider to do business with any federal agency. Because FedRAMP ATO’s are more far-reaching, the certification process is far more rigorous. It must also be performed by a certified third-party assessment organization (3PAO) such as Lazarus Alliance. Finally, FedRAMP is more specific than FISMA. FISMA applies to information systems security in general, while FedRAMP applies only to cloud service providers and federal agencies that plan to use cloud service providers.

Since the FedRAMP certification process is so demanding, a FedRAMP ATO is beneficial even for cloud service providers that do not currently work with the federal government. Private-sector companies are aware of how difficult it is to comply with FedRAMP and recognize it as a gold standard of cloud security.

However, this is not to say the FISMA compliance process is “easy.” Organizations need to map the specific NIST 800-53 controls to the FISMA requirements of each agency they wish to do business with. There are hundreds of different controls, and figuring out which ones apply in each situation can be quite complex.

Complying with FedRAMP, FISMA, and NIST 800-53

Regardless of which compliance framework is right for your organization, it’s best to partner with a certified 3PAO such as Lazarus Alliance. Our FISMA and FedRAMP Cybervisors™ will provide your decision-makers with a clear picture of certification costs, timelines, and internal resource demands to facilitate an informed decision about pursuing FedRAMP or FISMA certification based on NIST 800-53.

Further, by leveraging Continuum GRC’s proprietary IT Audit Machine, a revolutionary GRC software package that utilizes pre-loaded, drag-and-drop modules, Lazarus Alliance takes the pain and high costs out of the FedRAMP and FISMA compliance process. Some of our clients have saved up to 1,000% over traditional FedRAMP assessment methods.

The cybersecurity experts at Lazarus Alliance have deep knowledge of the cybersecurity field, are continually monitoring the latest information security threats, and are committed to protecting organizations of all sizes from security breaches. Our full-service risk assessment services and Continuum GRC RegTech software will help protect your organization from data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other cyber threats.

Lazarus Alliance is proactive cybersecurity®. Call +1 (888) 896-7580 to discuss your organization’s cybersecurity needs and find out how we can help your organization adhere to cybersecurity regulations, maintain compliance, and secure your systems.

What Is Autonomous Malware?

We’re reaching the end of 2025, and looking ahead to 2026, most experts are discussing the latest threats that will shape the year ahead. This year, we’re seeing a new, but not unexpected, shift to autonomous threats driven by state-sponsored actors and AI.  With that in mind, a new generation of threats, broadly known as...Continue reading→

What CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-01 Means for Everyone

In mid-October 2025, the CISA issued one of its most urgent orders yet: Emergency Directive 26-01. The directive calls on all Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to immediately mitigate vulnerabilities in devices from F5 Networks following a state-sponsored breach of F5’s systems and access to portions of BIG-IP source code and vulnerability data. The event...Continue reading→

Cybersecurity and Vetting AI-Powered Tools

A recent exploit involving a new AI-focused browser shone a light on a critical problem–namely, that browser security is a constant issue, and AI is just making that threat more pronounced. Attackers discovered a way to use that browser’s memory features to implant hidden instructions inside an AI assistant. Once stored, those instructions triggered unwanted...Continue reading→

Shutdown Security And Cyber Vulnerability

When the federal government shuts down, the public sees closed monuments, unpaid workers, and halted programs. What they do not see is the silent surge of cyberattacks targeting agencies already operating on fumes. During the most recent shutdown, attacks against U.S. government systems spiked by nearly 85%.  Cybersecurity failures during government disruptions rarely start with...Continue reading→

Identity and the Shift from Malware

The world of cyber threats is rapidly evolving, and while we can see these changes more generally, it’s always crucial to understand them concretely. As the 2025 CrowdStrike Global Threat Report shows us, the landscape of our industry is changing.  We’re digging into this report to discuss a challenging trend: the move of hackers foregoing...Continue reading→

Maintaining Compliance Against Prompt Injection Attacks

The increasing adoption of AI by businesses introduces security risks that current cybersecurity frameworks are not prepared to address. A particularly complex emerging threat is prompt injection attacks. These attacks manipulate the integrity of large language models and other AI systems, potentially compromising security protocols and legal compliance. Organizations adopting AI must have a plan...Continue reading→

Are We Already Talking About CMMC 3.0?

The ink has barely dried on the CMMC final rule, and already the defense contracting community is buzzing with speculation about what comes next. Just when contractors thought they had a moment to catch their breath after years of regulatory limbo, whispers of CMMC 3.0 have begun circulating through the industry. But is this just...Continue reading→

Centralizing Identity-Based Risk

As the traditional network boundary dissolves and remote work becomes standard practice, identities are the major frontier for security. Whether we’re talking about human users, service accounts, or machine identities, these have emerged as both the primary access mechanism and the most targeted attack vector.  It has become imperative for providers to centralize identity management...Continue reading→

Deviation and Significant Change Requests in FedRAMP: A Comprehensive Guide

FedRAMP provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services used by federal agencies. While the program’s rigorous baseline requirements ensure consistent security, the reality is that this consistency calls for a little flexibility.  This is where deviation requests and significant change requests come into play. These two...Continue reading→

The Costs of Compliance and Data Breaches

Data is possibly one of the most valuable assets any organization holds. Customer information, employee records, and proprietary business intelligence present challenges because the data flowing through modern enterprises represents both significant opportunities and serious risks.  Businesses face a challenging balance: investing in compliance measures to protect sensitive information while also preparing for the real...Continue reading→