From Vulnerability Overload to Near Zero CVE: A Smarter Path to FedRAMP

The FedRAMP Compliance Challenge: A Roadblock for Cloud Providers

For cloud service providers (CSPs) working with U.S. federal agencies, obtaining FedRAMP Authority to Operate (ATO) is a critical milestone. However, for most organizations, the process is a time-consuming, costly, and resource-intensive endeavor.

The Common Roadblocks

• Inefficient Vulnerability Management – Traditional scanners generate overwhelming CVE lists, making it difficult to prioritize and remediate threats in time for audits.
  
  
• Resource-Heavy Hardening – Teams spend months securing container images, implementing compliance benchmarks, and documenting configurations.
  
  
• Ongoing Compliance Burden – Security teams must provide monthly POA&M reports, ensure timely vulnerability remediation, and maintain continuous system hardening.

The result? Delays in market entry, increased security risks, and an ongoing operational drain.

‍Achieving FedRAMP ATO can take up to 12-18 months and cost upwards of $2 million. Without the right tools, organizations often fall behind schedule, delaying government contracts and creating security blind spots.

How RapidFort Eliminates These Barriers

‍RapidFort accelerates FedRAMP compliance by:

✅ Providing Near Zero CVE container images, ensuring a secure foundation from the start.

✅ Eliminating up to 95% of vulnerabilities automatically, reducing compliance bottlenecks.

✅ Continuously monitoring the software attack surface, maintaining compliance beyond initial authorization.

A leading cybersecurity firm recently used RapidFort’s automated hardening and optimization to reduce FedRAMP compliance costs by 50% and cut down their certification timeline by three months—giving them a competitive edge in securing federal contracts.‍

1: Attack Surface Management: The Foundation of FedRAMP Compliance

FedRAMP mandates that organizations track and minimize their software attack surface, ensuring that every component within the ATO boundary is accounted for and secured.

‍The Challenge: More Software = More Risk

Modern applications often include unnecessary software, outdated dependencies, and bloated libraries, increasing the likelihood of vulnerabilities and compliance violations. Each additional component and release introduces:

• New security risks that require ongoing patching.
  
  
• Increased audit complexity due to expanded system scope.
  
  
• Higher compliance costs from additional monitoring and remediation.

How RapidFort Addresses the Challenge‍

🔹 Near Zero CVE Curated Images – Secure-by-default, FIPS-validated container images eliminate vulnerabilities for a secure foundation.

🔹 SASM-Powered Hardening – RapidFort identifies and removes unused software, reducing the attack surface by up to 90%.

🔹 Beyond SBOM: Introducing RBOM™ – While standard SBOMs list software components, RapidFort’s RBOM™ (Real Bill of Materials™) distinguishes between actively used and dormant code, providing real-time insights for risk management.

2: FedRAMP-Ready Images: A Secure Foundation for ATO

Traditional Compliance Challenges

• Manual Hardening – Engineering teams must configure container images to meet FIPS, STIG, and CIS benchmarks.
  
  
• Continuous Patching – Organizations face challenges in staying ahead of emerging vulnerabilities, which disrupt software delivery timelines.
  
  
• Complex Documentation – Proving compliance requires detailed security and audit reports of remediation efforts.

How RapidFort Solves It

‍🔹 Near Zero CVE Images – Secure-by-default container images aligned with FIPS and STIG benchmarks reduce the need for extensive manual hardening.

🔹 Automated Image Security Updates – Daily rebuilds ensure images remain secure without disrupting CI/CD workflows.

🔹 Seamless Compliance Integration – RapidFort’s images align with FedRAMP requirements, ensuring every deployment meets security benchmarks from day one.

3: Vulnerability Management & Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) Reporting: Simplifying Continuous Compliance

‍Once FedRAMP authorization is achieved, organizations must maintain compliance through continuous monitoring, vulnerability remediation, and regular reporting.

‍The Burden of Continuous Monitoring

‍FedRAMP mandates:

• Remediating Critical/High vulnerabilities within 30 days and Medium/Low vulnerabilities within strict SLAs.
  
  
• Tracking new vulnerabilities across production workloads and ensuring prompt remediation.
  
  
• POA&M Reporting – Organizations must maintain a POA&M to track identified vulnerabilities and their remediation plans.

For many teams, this translates into endless patching, constant triage, and overwhelming documentation demands.

‍How RapidFort Solves It

‍🔹 Automated CVE Remediation – RapidFort’s SASM platform removes up to 95% of vulnerabilities before production, drastically reducing compliance workload.

🔹 Runtime Protection – Continuously monitors production workloads to detect new vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, ensuring compliance with FedRAMP’s security mandates.

🔹 Effortless POA&M Reporting – Pre-built real-time security reports provide clear, audit-ready compliance documentation without manual effort.

4: Why RapidFort Outperforms Traditional Approaches

‍✅  Seamless Compatibility with Industry-Standard OS – RapidFort’s curated images align with widely trusted, community-supported operating systems, ensuring stability, security, and vendor flexibility.

✅  Seamless Integration – Maintain existing workflows without the need to switch distributions or disrupt pipelines.

✅  FedRAMP-Ready Compliance Features – RapidFort includes CIS/STIG benchmarking tools and aligns with DISA-approved security requirements, offering more comprehensive FedRAMP support than many alternatives.

✅  Cost-Effective ELA Model – No per-seat licensing. Customers receive FIPS and non-FIPS variants under a single pricing model, unlike competitors who charge separately for each.

✅  Beyond Just Base Images – RapidFort hardens the entire software environment, providing full lifecycle security rather than just offering pre-hardened images.

By addressing security vulnerabilities beyond just base images, RapidFort helps customers achieve long-term compliance while reducing operational complexity.

5: Fast-Track FedRAMP Compliance with Platform One & Tradewind Marketplaces

‍RapidFort is already available through Platform One and Tradewind Marketplaces, simplifying procurement for government agencies and contractors.With RapidFort, organizations can:

‍✅ Achieve FedRAMP, HIPAA, PCI, and SOC-2 compliance faster with Near Zero CVE, hardened images.

✅ Reduce security risks with automated vulnerability remediation without modifying source code.

✅ Speed up software releases by 2–3 weeks, eliminating security bottlenecks.

‍Move Beyond Compliance Headaches—Fast-Track Your FedRAMP ATO Today

‍FedRAMP compliance doesn’t have to be a roadblock. With RapidFort, security becomes an enabler, not an obstacle. Build, deploy, and maintain hardened, compliant software effortlessly—all while accelerating your path to ATO.