The same assess-prove-attest discipline the suite brings to CMMC, taken to the federal bar -- FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5. Not shipping yet: this is a waitlist, and an overview of what ForteFed is for, not an API reference.
ForteFed is the DenseDefense suite's federal member. ForteFide brings the assess -> prove -> contain -> attest discipline to CMMC Level 2 and NIST SP 800-171; ForteFed is being built to carry that same discipline to the federal bar -- FedRAMP and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5. Same posture, same signed evidence chain, a broader control set.
It targets the framework that governs federal information systems, where the control set is larger and organized by baseline. The intent is that a shop already living in the suite's honest, evidence-first frame can meet the federal bar in the same frame, rather than starting over in a different tool.
CMMC and 800-171 govern controlled unclassified information in the defense industrial base. NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 -- the framework behind FedRAMP -- governs federal information systems more broadly, with a larger control catalog selected by baseline (low, moderate, high). ForteFed is aimed at organizations that answer to that bar, or expect to.
The areas it is being built to bring into the suite's posture include:
| Area | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| NIST 800-53 Rev. 5 control set | The federal catalog is broader than 800-171 and baseline-tiered; meeting it needs the control language and determinations built for it, not a CMMC scan relabeled. |
| FedRAMP baseline selection | Low / moderate / high change which controls are in scope. The intent is to assess against the baseline you actually carry. |
| Signed, offline-verifiable evidence | The same Ed25519-signed, chain-of-custody evidence the rest of the suite produces, so a federal reviewer can walk the chain the same way. |
| One suite identity | Federal work sits beside your CMMC work under one ForteBase identity, not a second tool with its own account and its own verifier. |
ForteFed is being built to hold the line the whole suite holds: an honest determination you can defend beats a flattering one you cannot. The design intent is that a control is scored met only on evidence that can actually determine it, that what could not be reached is named rather than quietly passed, and that every determination is backed by signed, offline-verifiable evidence.
At the federal bar this matters for the same reason it matters under self-attestation: the organization that submits the assessment carries the liability for it. Evidence that a reviewer can walk -- traceable to origin and provably unaltered -- is what a submission is meant to rest on.
ForteFed is one member of the DenseDefense suite, alongside the compliance engine that scans and remediates your fleet against CMMC Level 2 / NIST 800-171, the offensive console that proves exposures are real, the data-discovery and AI-posture capabilities, and the evidence-and-custody layer beneath them all. ForteFed extends that same posture to the federal control set.
The intent is that federal findings live in the same honest, evidence-first frame as everything else the suite reports, under one ForteBase identity -- so an organization that has assessed its fleet for CMMC can meet the federal bar without leaving the frame it already trusts.
ForteFed is a waitlist product, in development. It is not available today, and there is no shipping public REST API yet -- which is why this is an overview and not an API reference. Publishing an interface reference for a product still being shaped would be a promise it is not yet ready to keep.