Navigating to AWS GovCloud (US): A Secure and Compliant Journey

Government agencies are adopting cloud computing to boost efficiency, agility, and scalability. However, stringent compliance and security requirements demand a specialized approach. This blog outlines best practices from AWS and Infosys Public Services experts, addresses key challenges in GovCloud migration, and highlights the successful migration of the Infosys Health Insights Platform (IHIP) to AWS GovCloud (US).

Executive Summary

The ever-growing volume of government data, coupled with the increasing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies, is driving a significant shift in how government agencies manage their IT infrastructure. Traditional on-premises data centers struggle to keep pace with the exponential data explosion and the security demands of handling sensitive information such as social security numbers, medical records, and financial data.

AWS GovCloud (US) provides a secure cloud computing environment tailored for government agencies, addressing their unique needs. This platform offers elasticity, cost efficiency, and reduced operational overhead, making it an ideal solution for the public sector. Additionally, this cloud service addresses critical security challenges, ensuring compliance with stringent government regulations and standards.

The key benefits driving government agencies to migrate their applications to AWS GovCloud (US) include:

• Enhanced Security: Government data is often highly sensitive and subject to strict regulations like FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services). The environments are built with these regulations in mind, offering physical and logical isolation from any commercial clouds. The infrastructure is managed by US citizens, and strict access controls are enforced to minimize security risks.
• Data Residency and Ownership: Data residency requirements often mandate that government data remain within specific geographic boundaries. This cloud service ensures data stays within the designated region, addressing compliance concerns. Additionally, the platform provides clear data ownership guidelines, essential for maintaining control over sensitive and classified information, and ensuring compliance with U.S. export control laws including ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations).
• Scalability and Agility: The government technology and regulatory landscape is constantly evolving. This cloud service offers the scalability and agility needed to adapt to changing demands. Agencies can easily scale their IT resources up or down as needed, ensuring they have the capacity to handle spikes in data volume or new initiatives.
• Reduced Costs: This cloud service eliminates the need for expensive upfront investments in hardware and IT infrastructure, and the pay-as-you-go model ensures agencies only pay for the resources they use.
• Improved Data Analytics: Government agencies are increasingly leveraging AI and data analytics to gain insights from vast datasets. This cloud service provides a secure and scalable platform to store, manage, and analyze data, empowering agencies to make data-driven decisions for better service delivery.

Data Explosion and AI Adoption

A report by IDC predicts that the global datasphere will grow to a staggering 175 zettabytes by 2025. Government agencies are not immune to this data explosion. As they collect more data from citizens, sensors, and other sources, the need for a secure and scalable platform to manage this data becomes paramount.

Furthermore, AI adoption in government is rapidly increasing. AWS GovCloud (US) provides a secure environment to develop and deploy AI applications, enabling agencies to automate tasks, improve service delivery, and gain valuable insights from data.

Security Concerns

Government agencies are prime targets for cyberattacks due to the sensitive nature of the data they handle. A 2024 report by Verizon found that 40% of the overall security incidents were targeted at public sector organizations. AWS GovCloud (US) robust security features and strict compliance protocols helps mitigate these risks and safeguard sensitive government data.

Ensuring Compliance and Security with AWS GovCloud (US)

1. How Migration Differs from Commercial Cloud Migration

While both commercial and government cloud services offer benefits like scalability, agility, and cost-efficiency, migrating to a government cloud environment presents unique considerations for government agencies. These considerations primarily revolve around enhanced security measures, stringent compliance requirements, and specific data residency and ownership needs.

Security and Compliance

Government agencies face several unique security and compliance considerations when migrating to this cloud service, which include:

• Enhanced Security Protocols: Need advanced security measures, including physical and logical isolation from commercial cloud infrastructures. This separation is crucial for protecting sensitive government data.
• Strict Compliance Requirements: Need to meet rigorous compliance standards required for government data, such as FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services). These standards are far stricter than those typically encountered in commercial environments, ensuring that government agencies can meet their legal and regulatory obligations.
• Controlled Access: Access restriction to U.S. citizens who need to be thoroughly vetted, ensuring that only authorized personnel can access sensitive information. This is essential for maintaining the integrity and security of government operations.

Data Residency and Ownership

Data residency and ownership are critical factors for government agencies considering cloud migration, particularly due to legal and operational requirements:

• Guaranteed U.S. Data Residency: Need to ensure all data remains within the United States to comply with federal laws mandating data residency. This is crucial for agencies governed by strict national security and privacy regulations.
• Clear Data Ownership Guidelines: The platform must provide explicit definitions and protocols for data ownership, essential for maintaining control over sensitive and classified information. This clarity is vital for compliance with U.S. export control laws, including ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations).
• Documented ITAR Compliance: Need to offer thorough documentation on handling export-controlled data, ensuring agencies can meet ITAR requirements without risking non-compliance or penalties.

AWS GovCloud (US) provides a comprehensive solution tailored specifically to meet the stringent needs of U.S. government agencies.

2. Simplifying the Journey with Cloud Infrastructure and Tools

Migrating to the AWS Gov Cloud requires a meticulous approach, prioritizing security and compliance throughout the process. Infosys Public Services and AWS have developed a structured methodology to navigate this migration quickly and at a lower risk.

Phase 1: Planning and Assessment

This foundational phase involves a thorough evaluation of the government agency's current IT environment using tools like:

• Well-Architected Framework: This framework helps assess the government agency's current infrastructure against best practices for security, reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.
• Migration Hub: This service provides a centralized view of the government agency's migration journey, including discovery, assessment, and planning tasks.

Activities:

• Discovery Workshops: Collaborative workshops are conducted to understand the agency's goals, challenges, and existing IT infrastructure.
• Workload Assessment: Identify workloads suitable for migration to the Gov Cloud based on security, performance, and cost considerations. AWS services like AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) can be used to assess application dependencies and migration feasibility.
• Compliance Review: Analyze the compliance requirements and ensure the chosen AWS Gov Cloud offering aligns with them. AWS Artifact can be used to discover and catalog an agency's IT assets to understand their compliance posture.

Phase 2: Security at the Forefront

Security is of utmost importance for U.S. government agencies. The migration to Gov Cloud involves a comprehensive design and implementation of robust security measures tailored to meet the stringent compliance and security requirements of government operations:

• Security Architecture Design: Design a secure cloud environment that aligns with your security posture and compliance requirements using architectural best practices and leveraging AWS services like:
  • Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): Provides a logically isolated network environment within the AWS Gov Cloud for your resources.
  • AWS Security Groups: Define network access control lists to restrict inbound and outbound traffic to your resources.
  • AWS Key Management Service (KMS): Manages the encryption keys used to protect your data at rest and in transit.
• Identity and Access Management (IAM): Implement robust IAM controls using IAM policies and roles to restrict access to sensitive data and resources within the Gov Cloud.
• Data Encryption: Leverage AWS KMS and other encryption services to encrypt data at rest and in transit, ensuring confidentiality and integrity.
• Security Monitoring and Threat Detection: Continuously monitor your cloud environment for security threats and vulnerabilities using Amazon GuardDuty, Amazon CloudTrail, and Amazon Inspector.

Phase 3: Compliance Assurance

Meeting stringent federal and state regulations is critical. Here’s how your agency can ensure compliance with these regulations:

• Compliance Gap Analysis: Identify any gaps between your current security posture and the required compliance regulations using AWS Audit Manager to automate evidence collection and reporting.
• Remediation Planning: Develop a plan to address any compliance gaps identified during the analysis, potentially leveraging AWS Security Hub to aggregate security findings from multiple AWS services.
• Compliance Documentation: Maintain comprehensive documentation using AWS Config to record configuration changes and ensure ongoing compliance with Authority to Operate (ATO) requirements.

Phase 4: Data Migration with Integrity

Secure data migration is essential to any migration program. Proven techniques and tools like AWS Snowball and AWS Data Sync can ensure the integrity and confidentiality of your data throughout the migration process.

Phase 5: Change Management for a Smooth Transition

Considering the unique needs of government staff, craft a comprehensive change management plan encompassing training, communication, and stakeholder engagement to facilitate a smooth transition for your workforce.

3. Key Challenges and Solutions: Unveiling a Smooth Path

While the benefits of AWS Gov Cloud are undeniable, government agencies may face challenges during migration. Here’s how you can address those challenges:

• Complexity Demystified: Cloud migration can be intricate. Adopt a well-defined methodology that demystifies the process, mitigating risks and ensuring a smooth migration, considering the specific complexities of the public sector, such as ensuring data residency compliance throughout the process, integrating seamlessly with legacy systems, and maintaining secure access for personnel with specific security clearances.
• Security Fortified: Security concerns are top-of-mind for government agencies. Leverage the inherent security features of AWS GovCloud and implement additional security measures to create a robust security posture for your data and applications tailored to public sector needs. This could include encrypting data at rest and in transit, enforcing granular access controls, monitoring activity logs for suspicious behavior, segmenting your network to restrict access, and conducting regular penetration testing to identify and address vulnerabilities. By combining built-in security with these extra layers of protection, you can ensure your data and applications remain secure.
• Compliance Navigation: Complying with many federal and state regulations can be daunting. This cloud service ensures your migration aligns with all relevant regulations, providing peace of mind. This service simplifies compliance by offering pre-built packages and configurations related to HiTrust, FISMA, and HiTech that map to specific regulations, reducing the burden of manually ensuring compliance. Additionally, GovCloud's focus on transparency provides clear visibility into data security practices through detailed documentation and audit tools.
• Expertise Bridge: The lack of in-house cloud expertise can be a hurdle for government agencies. Leverage a System Integration partner with a deep understanding of the public sector space and a team of experienced cloud migration specialists to guide you every step of the way.

4. Case Study: IHIP on AWS Gov Cloud - Transforming Healthcare Data Analytics

The Infosys Health Insights Platform (IHIP), a next-gen analytics platform that turns data into actions was originally deployed on a commercial cloud platform. However, to meet the evolving needs of government healthcare organizations and address security concerns, the application was migrated to the AWS GovCloud and realized the following benefits.

• Improved Security and Compliance: Healthcare data is highly sensitive and subject to strict regulations like HIPAA. This cloud service is a more secure environment with built-in compliance features following Industry Security best practices like NIST 800-53, FIPS, etc., specifically designed to meet the public sector's stringent requirements. This ensures the confidentiality and integrity of patient data at rest and in transit.
• Government-Specific Focus: Commercial cloud offerings may not prioritize government agencies' specific needs and regulations because of data residency requirements, transparency, and dedicated government cloud regions. AWS GovCloud caters to the functionalities and workloads of government entities, providing a more suitable platform for IHIP.
• Enhanced Scalability and Agility: The demand for healthcare data analysis is constantly growing. Migrating IHIP to GovCloud provided the scalability and agility needed to handle increasing data volumes, support new functionalities on AI applications, and deal with real-time access to sensitive data securely and seamlessly. AWS GovCloud's features, like scalable storage and secure collaboration within data residency restrictions, enable multiple agencies to analyze large datasets and work together effectively, ultimately accelerating healthcare advancements adhering to industry regulations and policies.

The below diagram provides a high-level overview of the IHIP solution on the AWS stack provisioned on the AWS Gov Cloud.

The technical architecture diagram below illustrates the deployment of services within AWS GovCloud, emphasizing the stringent security and compliance protocols required for U.S. government operations. The architecture leverages AWS GovCloud's isolated environment, which is designed to meet the specific needs of U.S. government agencies by providing enhanced physical and logical security measures and compliance with federal regulations.

Key components of the diagram include multi-layer security mechanisms such as identity and access management, encrypted data storage and transmission, and secure connectivity options. The architecture is optimized for high performance, scalability, and cost-efficiency, while strictly adhering to the compliance and privacy requirements that are crucial for government data systems.

This setup allows government agencies to safely process, store, and manage sensitive data, ensuring that all operations comply with legal and regulatory standards.

Potential Opportunities:

Looking ahead, Infosys Public Services aims to continuously improve IHIP by leveraging the latest advancements in GovCloud technologies leveraging GenAI capabilities. This includes:

• Integration with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML): By integrating AI and ML capabilities, IHIP can unlock new insights from healthcare data, enabling predictive analytics and personalized care.
• Enhanced Interoperability: Enabling seamless data exchange with other healthcare systems can create a more holistic view of patient data and improve care coordination.
• Data Privacy for Model Training: Integrating data privacy into machine learning model training is crucial for responsible AI development. Infosys Responsible AI suite of offerings and services, part of Infosys Topaz, is designed to help enterprises navigate the complex technical, policy, and governance challenges related to embedding strong foundations of Responsible AI across the organization. Our Responsible AI Suite is based on the AI3S framework of Scan, Shield, and Steer, built on an end-to-end autonomous platform approach to Scope, Secure, and Spearhead enterprises’ AI solutions and platforms.

By continuously innovating and leveraging the power of AWS GovCloud, IHIP remains a valuable tool for government healthcare organizations to improve healthcare data analytics, security, and, ultimately, patient outcomes.

Conclusion

Migrating to the AWS Gov Cloud presents a compelling opportunity for government agencies to enhance efficiency, agility, and scalability. Leveraging proven best practices, understanding AWS Gov Cloud security protocols, and aligning with compliance requirements can empower Government agencies to leverage the cloud with confidence.

Next Steps

Contact Infosys Public Team Services to discuss how Government agencies can plan their cloud migration journey to AWS Gov Cloud.

Author Details

Narendran Chandrasekaran, Industry Principal, Infosys Public Services

With over two decades of experience in the IT sector, Naren has refined expertise in technology architecture, particularly in the integration of cloud solutions and artificial intelligence. As a seasoned Technology Architect, he excels in designing and implementing scalable architectures that anticipate both the immediate and long-term needs of businesses. His career is marked by a steadfast dedication to converting complex business requirements into efficient, state-of-the-art technology systems. He is currently focusing on building and delivering the next-generation AI platform to help clients reimagine their business and IT operations landscape.

Arun Pradeep Baskaran, Solution Architect, AWS

Arun Pradeep Baskaran is a Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services (AWS), collaborating closely with partner Infosys to develop innovative cloud-native solutions on the AWS platform. He Joined the AWS team as a Solution Architect bringing with him a wealth of industry expertise spanning over two decades. He is passionate about helping partners and customers solve their business challenges and technical problems from migration to modernization and optimization. Outside of work, he spends quality time with his family, travelling and reading.

Dr. Suman De, Principal Consultant and Head, Government Healthcare Analytics Solutions, Infosys Public Services

Dr. Suman is head of government healthcare analytics for Infosys Public Services. He has extensive experience in the public healthcare sector and previously worked for the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Indian Public Health Association.

At Infosys, Dr. Suman leads the area of advanced data science and artificial intelligence-enabled population health, social determinants of health analytics, opioid management, care management, and value-based care. He is a frequent public speaker at various healthcare conferences, forums and at major universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ajay Thukral, Head of Technology, Infosys Public Services, Inc.

Ajay Thukral is the Senior Industry Principal and Head of Enterprise Architecture at Infosys Public Services, a subsidiary of Infosys that specializes in the US and Canadian public sectors. In this role, he defines and implements technology architecture across multiple programs for public sector clients, ensuring compliance with state and federal standards.

With over 23 years of experience in consulting and driving digital transformation, Ajay plays a pivotal role in shaping the technology vision and strategy for public sector organizations. He excels at identifying and scaling emerging technologies, offering invaluable advice to clients, and guiding successful transformation journeys.

Ajay has completed an executive CTO program at Wharton Business School, complementing his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Thapar University, India. He holds industry-leading certifications in architecture, cloud, and security, such as TOGAF, CISSP, CCSP, CISM, AWS, Azure, and PMP.