Federal 100: Kurt Garbars

Kurt Garbars
Senior Agency Information Security Officer
General Services Administration

Kurt Garbars played a lead role in getting multiple agencies to agree on a set of processes that could revolutionize how information security is applied across government, especially in the burgeoning area of cloud computing.

As chairman of a multiagency working group authorized by the CIO Council, Garbars spent eight months developing controls, guidelines and processes for the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program. FedRAMP will allow agencies to share the risks and costs associated with the assessment and accreditation of cloud computing products and services. Under FedRAMP, those activities could be conducted once and used by other agencies.

Garbars built consensus around the program based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Special Publication 800-53, which helps secure cloud computing products and services.

Read more about the 2011 Federal 100 award winners.