Defining Your Authorization Boundary the Right Way

The authorization boundary defines what is — and is not — covered by your FedRAMP authorization. Drawing it correctly is one of the highest-leverage decisions in the whole effort.

What belongs inside

Everything that stores, processes, or transmits federal data, plus the components that secure and manage those systems. The boundary includes your application, its infrastructure, management and monitoring tooling, and the interconnections between them.

External services and interconnections

• —Services inside the boundary must be authorized or assessed as part of your system.
• —External services you rely on (e.g., another authorized cloud service) are documented as interconnections or leveraged authorizations.
• —Unauthorized external dependencies that touch federal data are a frequent finding — identify them early.

Common traps

Drawing the boundary too small to look simpler invites questions when reviewers find dependencies you omitted. Drawing it too large pulls extra systems into assessment. Map your real data flows first, then let the boundary follow the data.