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Cloudflare for Government Just Hit FedRAMP's Highest Tier!

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Hi everyone, it's Shii-chan! Today I've got news that might look understated at first glance but is actually a big deal for government security. I sat up a little straighter reading this one.

Cloudflare Blog blog.cloudflare.com

What was announced?

This comes from Cloudflare's Changelog. Cloudflare for Government has achieved FedRAMP Class D (High) certification. Alongside it, Cloudflare announced it's pursuing authorization for the U.S. Department of Defense's Impact Level 4 (IL4).

FedRAMP, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, is the U.S. government's security gold standard: a rigorous, standardized approach to assessing cloud products and services. The Class D (High) level just achieved covers the nation's most sensitive unclassified data, including information tied to law enforcement, emergency services, financial systems, and national security. A breach at this level is considered severe enough to potentially threaten lives or the economy and national security.

The story so far

Cloudflare achieved FedRAMP Moderate certification back in 2022. This new certification is a step up to the most demanding tier, Class D (High).

What changes

Here's the part worth paying attention to: Cloudflare's architectural approach. Rather than building a separate, scaled-down system just for government, it runs the same software stack as its commercial service across its global network, offered as one unified platform.

That means federal agencies get access to the same cutting-edge technology as commercial customers, freeing them from the usual constraint where isolated government cloud environments lag behind on the latest features. This covers Zero Trust security tools, application performance features, and the latest developer-facing product capabilities.

Dive Deep

Data handling gets its own dedicated mechanism too. The Data Localization Suite lets Cloudflare inspect and process traffic exclusively within U.S.-based data centers, meeting the strict data-handling requirements government agencies need.

Also announced alongside this is DoD IL4, a cybersecurity standard for Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) within the Department of Defense. Cloudflare says it's building on its newly certified FedRAMP High system as the foundation to pursue that authorization. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) sponsored the certification.

Wrap-up

  • Cloudflare for Government achieved FedRAMP Class D (High) certification
  • Class D (High) covers the nation's most sensitive unclassified data
  • This is a step up from the FedRAMP Moderate certification achieved in 2022
  • Offered as a unified platform running the same software stack as commercial services
  • The Data Localization Suite allows processing within U.S. data centers only
  • Cloudflare also announced it's pursuing DoD IL4 authorization

If you work on systems for government or the public sector, or you follow cloud compliance certifications, this one's for you.

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