Why FIPS Matters More Than Ever

In today’s cloud-native world, cryptographic assurance is not optional. It is the foundation of trust.  

Every federal system, enterprise, and regulated environment depends on validated cryptographic modules to protect information and communication.

Yet for many organizations, achieving and maintaining FIPS 140-2 or 140-3 compliance is still a long and complex process. Manual documentation, fragmented validation records, and legacy systems make compliance both time-consuming and expensive.

At CleanStart, we believe compliance should not be something you add later.

It should be built in from the beginning as a natural part of how software is created, tested, and deployed.

Introducing the FIPS Foundations Series

To help security, DevSecOps, and compliance professionals understand this shift, we have published the CleanStart Technical Foundations Series: Built-In Compliance.

This is a set of four technical papers that take readers through how FIPS validation has evolved from static audits to continuous assurance. Each paper explains one stage of this journey and shows how CleanStart integrates government-grade cryptography directly into its core platform.

Together, the four parts form a complete roadmap for modern FIPS compliance in containerized environments.

Part 1 – Embedding FIPS 140-2 Compliance at the Foundation

For a long time, teams treated FIPS validation as a final checklist before deployment.

Part 1 explains how CleanStart changes that approach by embedding validated cryptographic modules directly into CleanStart OS.

This ensures that every container image starts with a trusted and compliant foundation. It removes the need for individual application retrofitting and reduces validation effort across environments.

Part 2 – FIPS Compliance: Building Government-Grade Cryptography for Cloud-Native Infrastructure

Cloud-native environments have changed how we think about compliance.

Applications today are modular, dynamic, and distributed.

Part 2 of the series shows how CleanStart extends validated cryptography across containers and workloads while maintaining validation boundaries and integrity at every stage of build, deploy, and runtime.

Compliance in this model is not an audit event. It becomes a built-in capability of the platform itself.

Part 3 – FIPS 140-3 and the Quantum Imperative

The move from FIPS 140-2 to 140-3 represents a major leap in both scope and vision.

Part 3 discusses how the new standard aligns with international ISO and IEC frameworks and prepares systems for post-quantum cryptography.

CleanStart’s modular validation design ensures that organizations can transition smoothly to quantum-safe algorithms while remaining compliant with current FIPS requirements.

Part 4 – FIPS-Traces: Automating Compliance for Continuous Assurance

In most organizations, compliance still involves paperwork, screenshots, and manual evidence collection.

Part 4 introduces FIPS-Traces, CleanStart’s automated compliance framework.

With FIPS-Traces, every build generates validation of evidence automatically. Certificate details, cryptographic configurations, and module IDs are captured as part of the container manifest.

This creates real-time visibility and verifiable audit records. No manual tracking, no delay, no missed validation.

From Validation to Velocity

These four papers together highlight what we call Built-In Compliance.

It is the idea that security and validation should work in harmony with speed and automation.

By making compliance an outcome of the build process, CleanStart reduces audit time, simplifies certification, and helps organizations move faster while staying secure.

Our goal is not just to help companies meet FIPS standards but to help them maintain continuous assurance as they scale.

Explore the Full Series

The CleanStart FIPS Foundations Series is now available on our website.

Read the complete set and see how built-in validation and automation are changing compliance for the cloud-native era.

About the Author

Biswajit De is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at CleanStart.

He leads the company’s work in platform architecture, cryptographic assurance, and secure build innovation.

With over two decades of experience in enterprise security, he focuses on creating technology that blends strong compliance with practical engineering.