FIPS 201-3 Compliance Automation: Harnessing Policy-as-Code
- Sai Sravan Cherukuri
- Mar 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 22
Executive Summary
This white paper presents a real-world implementation of FIPS 201-3 compliance using Policy-as-Code (PaC) in a cloud environment. It details an organization's challenges in securing identity and access management, the role of PaC in automating compliance enforcement, and the technical approach used to implement, validate, and monitor security policies.
The white paper includes Terraform, Open Policy Agent (OPA), AWS IAM Policies, CI/CD automation, and monitoring solutions demonstrating a practical application of compliance automation in a cloud infrastructure.
1. Introduction: The Need for Policy-as-Code in a Cloud Security
1.1 The FIPS 201-3 Compliance Mandate
Federal contractors and agencies must adhere to FIPS 201-3 to standardize identity verification using Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentials. Compliance mandates:
Strong authentication (Multi-Factor Authentication - MFA)
Access control enforcement (Role-Based Access Control - RBAC, Least Privilege)
Interoperability with other federal systems (Single Sign-On - SSO)
Auditability (Logging and monitoring for security events)
Cloud environments introduce complexity in ensuring consistent security policies, making Policy-as-Code (PaC) an essential strategy for automating compliance.
1.2 Why Policy-as-Code (PaC)?
PaC enables:
Automated enforcement of compliance policies.
Consistency across cloud environments
Version-controlled policies for audit
Integration with CI/CD pipelines for real-time validation
2. Real-World Implementation Approach
This section details how an organization implemented FIPS 201-3 compliance via PaC, using:
Component | Technology Used |
Infrastructure Provisioning | Terraform |
Access Management | AWS IAM, AWS SSO |
Policy Enforcement | Open Policy Agent (OPA), HashiCorp Sentinel |
CI/CD Automation | GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline |
Monitoring & Auditing | AWS CloudTrail, AWS Config |
2.1 Defining Access Control Policies with Terraform & AWS IAM
To enforce PIV-based authentication, the organization deployed AWS IAM policies using Terraform.
Terraform IAM Policy Enforcing PIV Authentication
resource "aws_iam_policy" "piv_auth_enforce" {
name = "EnforcePIVAuthentication"
description = "Enforces PIV-based authentication for all federal users"
policy = jsonencode({
Version = "2012-10-17",
Statement = [{
Effect = "Deny",
Action = "*",
Resource = "*",
Condition = {
"StringNotEqualsIfExists": {
"aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent": "true",
"aws:SourceIdentity": "piv"
}
}
}]
})
}
✅ Key Features:
Denies access unless MFA is present.
Requires authentication using PIV for cloud resource access.
Terraform Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for Federal Users
resource "aws_iam_role" "federal_user_role" {
name = "FederalUserRole"
assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
Version = "2012-10-17"
Statement = [{
Effect = "Allow",
Principal = { "AWS": "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root" }
Action = "sts:AssumeRole"
Condition = {
"StringEquals": { "aws:SourceIdentity": "piv" }
}
}]
})
}
✅ Key Features:
Grants access only to users with PIV authentication.
Implements Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
3. Validating and Enforcing Policies with Open Policy Agent (OPA)
Integrated OPA into its CI/CD pipeline to prevent non-compliant changes.
OPA Policy to Enforce PIV Authentication
package compliance
default allow = false
allow {
input.identity.method == "PIV"
input.identity.mfa == true
}
Ensures users authenticate via PIV & MFA
Denies access for non-compliant users
Validating IAM Policies Using OPA
opa eval --input iam_policy.json --data policy.rego "data.compliance.allow"
If the policy fails, the deployment is blocked.
4. Automating Compliance via CI/CD
The organization embedded compliance checks in its GitHub Actions CI/CD pipeline.
GitHub Actions Workflow for Compliance Validation
name: "Terraform Compliance Check"
on: [push]
jobs:
validate:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout Code
uses: actions/checkout@v2
- name: Run Terraform Plan
run: terraform plan -out=tfplan
- name: Validate Policies with OPA
run: |
opa eval --input tfplan.json --data policy.rego "data.compliance.allow"
Prevents non-compliant configurations before deployment
Automates policy checks in CI/CD pipelines
5. Continuous Compliance Monitoring
The agency set up AWS Config & AWS CloudTrail to detect policy violations.
AWS Config Rule for Continuous PIV Authentication Compliance
{
"ConfigRuleName": "EnforcePIVAuth",
"Source": {
"Owner": "AWS",
"SourceIdentifier": "IAM_MFA_ENABLED"
}
}
Ensures real-time compliance tracking
Flags non-compliant IAM configurations
AWS CloudTrail Logging for Audits
The organization used CloudTrail logs to track access events:
aws cloudtrail lookup-events --lookup-attributes AttributeKey=EventName,AttributeValue=ConsoleLogin
Provides audit logs for compliance reporting
6. Key Challenges and Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
During implementation, the agency encountered several challenges:
Challenge | Root Cause | Mitigation Strategy |
IAM Policy Misconfigurations | Manual policy errors | Automate IAM policies using Terraform |
Integration with Legacy Systems | Older systems lacked PIV support | Implement AWS SSO for federated identity |
Resistance to Change | Teams unfamiliar with PaC | Conduct training workshops |
Lack of Compliance Visibility | No real-time monitoring | Deploy AWS Config & CloudTrail alerts |
7. Conclusion & Recommendations
By implementing FIPS 201-3 compliance via Policy-as-Code, the organization:
Automated security enforcement
Ensured continuous compliance monitoring
Reduced manual policy errors
Streamlined federal identity management
Key Takeaways:
✔️ Adopt Terraform & OPA for policy automation
✔️ Embed compliance validation in CI/CD pipelines
✔️ Use AWS Config & CloudTrail for real-time audits
✔️ Train teams on Policy-as-Code best practices
By leveraging PaC with cloud-native tools, organizations can enhance security, streamline compliance, and mitigate risk in cloud environments.
