In an era where digital agility is synonymous with mission success, Cisco is proud to serve as a cornerstone of the U.S. public sector’s modernization journey. We recognize that government agencies operate under the highest standards of security and accountability; that is why we have prioritized the delivery of FedRAMP Certified Class D (High) solutions across key offers of our security portfolio. By providing a secure, compliant foundation that bridges the gap between legacy infrastructure and cloud-native innovation, we are enabling agencies to implement Zero Trust principles and accelerate digital transformation with confidence. Our commitment goes beyond technology—we are dedicated to ensuring that federal, state, and local agencies have the robust, verified, and scalable Zero Trust platform solutions necessary to protect the nation’s most sensitive data while delivering seamless, resilient services to the public.
Cisco is proud to announce a significant milestone in our commitment to the U.S. Public Sector: the uplift of our key security offers within our security portfolio from FedRAMP Certified Class C (Moderate) to FedRAMP Certified Class D (High).
This transition provides federal agencies and contractors with the enhanced protection required for their most sensitive, mission-critical, unclassified data. By achieving this “Class D Certification” baseline across a suite of integrated solutions, Cisco is enabling a seamless transition to a mature Zero Trust architecture meeting the high standards of the CISA Zero Trust Model.
The Power of FedRAMP High
While FedRAMP Certified Class C (Moderate) is the standard for many civilian agencies, FedRAMP Certified Class D (High) is designed for systems where a breach could have catastrophic effects. This includes law enforcement, emergency services, healthcare, and financial systems. By meeting the 421 security controls required for the Class D Certified baseline, Cisco helps ensure that agencies can protect sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) with the highest level of cloud security rigor.
A Zero Trust Foundation for the Modern Mission
At the heart of this authorization uplift is Cisco’s commitment to Zero Trust. Our strategy centers on the philosophy of “never trust, always verify.” By integrating FedRAMP High authorized solutions, agencies can enforce granular access policies, maintain continuous visibility, and reduce the attack surface across users, devices, and applications.
Zero Trust represents a fundamental shift from traditional, perimeter-based security to a model centered on identity and context. In a FedRAMP High environment, where the stakes of a data breach are severe, this model helps ensure that no user or device is granted access to resources until they are fully authenticated, and their security posture is validated. By implementing least-privileged access, these solutions can help agencies prevent lateral movement by attackers and keep sensitive data isolated and protected, even in the event of a compromised credential.
Cisco’s security portfolio is specifically designed to align with the CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model (ZTMM) across its five foundational pillars: Identity, Devices, Network/Environment, Application Workload, and Data.
Our FedRAMP Certified Class D (High) solutions provide the visibility and automated policy enforcement necessary to move agencies from “Traditional” to “Advanced” and “Optimal” maturity levels. By integrating threat intelligence from Cisco Talos and providing cross-pillar visibility, Cisco helps agencies meet the rigorous requirements of Executive Order 14028 and the M-22-09 mandate, creating a resilient defense-in-depth strategy.
Cisco’s newly uplifted FedRAMP High ecosystem
- Cisco Secure Access for Government: As a premier Security Service Edge (SSE) solution, Secure Access offers a ZTNA-first approach that simplifies the user experience while enforcing strict Zero Trust principles. It enables seamless, secure access to all private and public applications, helping agencies ensure that users are verified and authorized at every step. By hiding applications from the public internet and providing a unified agent, it reduces the attack surface and eliminates the friction typically associated with legacy VPNs.
Cisco Secure Access for Government has a multi-layered defense starting at the DNS layer to block threats before a connection is ever established. Now authorized at the FedRAMP High level, it integrates Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB), and cloud-delivered firewall capabilities. This allows agencies to protect against sophisticated web-based attacks, manage shadow IT, and prevent data exfiltration across a distributed workforce.
- Cisco Security Cloud Control – Firewall Management: Formerly known as Defense Orchestrator, this solution allows for consistent policy management across the entire federal enterprise. Cisco Security Cloud Control – Firewall Management provides a centralized management plane that simplifies firewall policy orchestration, enabling consistent security posture across your entire infrastructure. By automating complex change management processes and providing unified visibility, we empower agencies to reduce configuration errors, accelerate compliance reporting, and strengthen their Zero Trust architecture.
- Cisco Multicloud Defense: As federal agencies accelerate their digital transformation, the complexity of securing workloads across AWS, Azure, and GCP has become a critical challenge. Cisco Multicloud Defense simplifies security strategy by providing a unified fabric that ensures consistent policy enforcement and deep, actionable visibility across cloud environments. Cisco Multicloud Defense is now available with rigorous standards of FedRAMP Certified Class D (High).
Securing the #1 Threat Vector: Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense
We are also excited to announce that Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense has officially achieved FedRAMP Certified Class D (High). Email remains the primary entry point for advanced threats, including phishing and ransomware. With Cisco Secure Email Threat Defense for Government authorized at the Certified Class D (High) FedRAMP level, agencies can leverage industry-leading threat intelligence and automated remediation to help protect their most targeted communication channel and maintaining security for even the most sensitive correspondence.
Cisco Security Cloud for Government
Cisco Security Cloud for Government is a unified authorization boundary that integrates various Cisco security services, ensuring that organizations can protect their users, devices, and applications regardless of where they reside. Government agencies can leverage the full suite of security products under the Cisco Security Cloud for Government authorization.
The Cisco Security Cloud for Government ecosystem is designed to meet the rigorous security requirements of the public sector and highly regulated industries.
Cisco Duo Federal High
Cisco Duo Federal High is Cisco’s FedRAMP-authorized multi-factor authentication (MFA) solution tailored to public sector organizations. It delivers strong cloud-based authentication and device visibility that meet the stringent security requirements of federal agencies. Duo Federal supports FIPS 140-2/3 and NIST SP 800-63-3 compliance, including authentication assurance levels AAL2 and AAL3, with support for biometric and hardware token authenticators.
Unlike commercial versions, Duo Federal restricts telephony-related features and requires authentication via Duo Push on smartphones, hardware tokens, or passkeys. It enforces strict security policies such as role-based and location-based access, biometric enforcement, and device hygiene checks, helping agencies implement zero-trust security models.
Cisco Security Cloud Control (SCC)
Cisco Security Cloud Control (SCC) has also achieved Class D (High) status. SCC is a centralized platform designed to unify the management, policy orchestration, and visibility of your Cisco security investments. It is essential for organizations looking to simplify their security architecture by transforming the management of complex, distributed environments into a more efficient and cohesive process.
Key Aspects of Security Cloud Control:
- Unified Visibility and Management: SCC provides a single dashboard to oversee security policies, configurations, and telemetry across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
- Consistent Policy Enforcement: It enables administrators to define security policies once and deploy them consistently across different components of the Cisco security portfolio.
- Streamlined Operations: Increased efficiency allows teams to focus on proactive threat hunting and strategic security initiatives rather than manual configuration management.
- Platform Integration: As the management layer of the Cisco Security Cloud, SCC is designed to integrate seamlessly with various Cisco security solutions.
Seamless Uplift: Security Without the Friction
One of the most significant advantages of Cisco’s approach is that this transition is an environmental uplift, not a migration.
For existing customers, this means:
- No Operational Hurdles: The upgrade to the backend infrastructure is applied automatically.
- No SKU Changes: Agencies can transition to a higher security posture without the need to replace products or re-configure core features.
- Unified Compliance: A single, high-security ecosystem that simplifies the path to meeting Executive Order 14028 and M-22-09 mandates.
Cisco a Trusted Partner for Protecting Critical Infrastructure, Cloud and Applications
Cisco’s ongoing investment in FedRAMP Certified Class D (High) solutions reflects our unwavering commitment to the U.S. government’s security mission. By integrating Cisco Secure Access (SSE) for comprehensive SASE, Cisco Security Cloud Control – Firewall Management for centralized firewall management, Multicloud Defense for consistent workload protection, Email Threat Defense for advanced, proactive security, Cisco Duo Federal High for MFA, and Cisco Security Cloud Control for unified management, we provide a Zero Trust-aligned platform that simplifies the complexity of modern government operations. As the federal landscape continues to evolve toward more stringent security frameworks and higher Impact Levels, Cisco remains your trusted partner—empowering agencies to accelerate digital transformation, secure distributed workforces, and safeguard the mission-critical data that powers our nation.
