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Governance, Risk, Audit & Privacy · Intermediate

Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO)

Independent organization accredited by A2LA to perform FedRAMP security assessments.

Definition

3PAOs assess cloud service providers' controls, produce the security assessment plan and report, and conduct annual assessments for continuous monitoring. Accreditation requires conformance with ISO/IEC 17020 and FedRAMP-specific requirements.

Example

A 3PAO performs penetration testing and control assessment for a provider's FedRAMP Moderate package.

Exam tip

3PAO is FedRAMP's assessor; C3PAO is CMMC's.

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