#United States #Washington #FedRAMP High #Knox Systems #Determinate Systems

In a significant move for the tech industry, Determinate Systems has successfully obtained Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High Authorization in partnership with Knox Systems, paving the way for enhanced security in software supply chains within federal agencies. This authorization allows U.S. government contractors and agencies, especially those dealing with Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), access to FlakeHub and Determinate Systems’ comprehensive Nix tooling. These tools are crucial in environments where stringent security, audit, and compliance requirements have historically hampered adoption.

As complexities in software supply chains rise, numerous engineering teams are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain control over their software ecosystems. The push towards AI-generated code, coupled with intricate dependency graphs and an overwhelming number of pull requests, creates challenges in tracking what's been built, how it operates, and what is actually on deployed systems. Determinate Systems offers a solution by utilizing Nix to ensure that software builds remain reproducible, verifiable, and secure across various platforms including developer machines, continuous integration (CI) systems, cloud environments, and edge devices. With FedRAMP High Authorization in hand, Determinate Systems transforms Nix into a reliable, enterprise-ready platform that federal agencies can adopt confidently.

The capabilities provided by Determinate Systems' FedRAMP High Authorization take aim at addressing crucial needs that have, until now, been out of reach in highly regulated environments. These features include:

• - Secure Nix Binary Caching and Collaboration: Ad-hoc Nix workflows are transformed into quicker and more compliant processes, enhancing overall governance.

• - Private Software Artifact and Configuration Sharing: Through private Nix flakes, organizations can share important resources with role-based access controls, ensuring centralized management.

• - Federated Authentication and Zero-Trust Access Controls: This includes seamless integration with enterprise identity providers, offering granular policy controls down to the artifact level.

• - Trusted Publishing and Provenance Controls: This provides precise versioning and restricts publications to authorized CI/CD systems to maintain security integrity.

• - Enhanced Build and Deployment Speed: With binary caching, redundant CI builds can be avoided, facilitating zero-evaluation deployments in critical or resource-constrained environments.

• - Secure Signed Nix Packages: Continuous Security Level Agreements (SLAs) ensure vulnerability remediation, comprehensive binary cache coverage, and optional packages compliant with stringent FIPS-based cryptography, alongside dedicated tools for generating and auditing Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs).

Graham Christensen, co-founder and CTO of Determinate Systems, notes, “The technology industry is facing a crisis regarding the integrity of software supply chains. Our foundation on Nix allows us to tackle this challenge effectively. The increasing governmental focus on software bills of materials and transparency in the supply chain fuels our momentum. Teams need Determinate Nix to meet rigorous compliance, and we make this accessible through FlakeHub’s FedRAMP High environment, even for those who do not traditionally require FedRAMP compliance.”

FedRAMP is a rigorous program established by the U.S. government aimed at standardizing the assessment and authorization processes for cloud service offerings, significantly accelerating governmental pursuits of cloud solutions meeting high-security standards. The partnership with Knox Systems, known for operating the largest managed federal cloud, played a critical role in achieving this milestone. Their infrastructure effectively handled the complexities associated with FedRAMP compliance, thus removing barriers that have previously hindered cloud innovation within the federal realm.

Irina Denisenko, CEO of Knox Systems, emphasized the rising risks federal agencies face concerning their software supply chain, mentioning issues from indistinct dependencies to configuration drifts that could lead to significant mission or compliance failures. She stated, “With support from Knox, these agencies can confidently utilize Determinate Systems' governed Nix platform to develop, deploy, and audit their software, adhering to the mandates of critical infrastructure.”

Agencies interested in learning more about Determinate Systems and its secure Nix platform can visit determinate.systems and for insights on FedRAMP Authorization via Knox, check out knoxsystems.com.

Determinate Systems is dedicated to providing secure software supply chains essential for critical infrastructure. Having been created by the original developers of Nix, the company helps engineering teams ensure their software remains reproducible, verifiable, and secure across all system phases. Through Determinate Nix, FlakeHub, and secure packages, organizations can manage dependencies, builds, configurations, and runtime environments uniformly. For more information about Determinate Systems, explore their offerings at determinate.systems.

Knox Systems, the leading operator of managed federal clouds, serves various defense and civilian sector agencies. Their focus on speed, resilience, and compliance, promises FedRAMP authorization within a mere 90 days, turning a traditional bottleneck in government IT into an avenue for quicker modernization processes, serving notable partners including Adobe and OutSystems. Learn more at knoxsystems.com.