Knox Systems, the largest federal AI-managed cloud provider, and RapidFort, the leader in Software Supply Chain Security, today announced a significant expansion of their strategic partnership. Effective immediately, Knox subscribers gain bundled access to RapidFort Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-3 curated container images as part of their existing subscription. This expanded offering eliminates a critical compliance bottleneck on the FedRAMP path and provides a hardened, continuously maintained security foundation designed to withstand the AI-accelerated vulnerability landscape.
Knox and RapidFort share a unified mission: unlock cutting-edge commercial software for federal agencies by streamlining compliance and reducing the attack surface. Through this partnership, customers receive:
- Faster FedRAMP 20 Certification: Knox already enables vendors to inherit 60–80% of required FedRAMP controls on day one, compressing authorization timelines to approximately 90 days without requiring agency sponsorship. The addition of RapidFort FIPS 140-3 curated images removes the next largest obstacle — container image compliance — from the vendor’s plate entirely. Teams that previously spent weeks hardening images, negotiating Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) and Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks, and resolving FIPS cryptographic validation issues can now deploy against a pre-validated, continuously maintained foundation from first login.
- Structural CVE Defense, Not Reactive Patching: RapidFort near-zero CVE images are maintained continuously. As attack vectors like Mythos, the Anthropic AI system that autonomously discovers and exploits zero-day vulnerabilities, emerge and accelerate vulnerability weaponization, Knox customers can operate from a baseline that is already hardened. When the next Mythos-discovered vulnerability surfaces, organizations on this stack present a dramatically reduced attack surface compared to those relying on unmanaged community images.
- Simplified Adoption, Unified Cost: The bundled model eliminates the procurement complexity of managing separate image licensing. Knox subscribers gain access to both FIPS and non-FIPS variants across all major operating system (OS) distributions — Ubuntu, Red Hat, Alpine, and Debian, including Bitnami and official-image versions — under a single subscription and a single repository, with no per-image licensing fees and no vendor lock-in. Integration requires no source code changes and fits directly into existing Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.
“FedRAMP 20x and the White House’s recent Memorandum 26-12 signal that the government wants to rapidly increase the use of commercial technology without sacrificing security,” said Irina Denisenko, CEO of Knox Systems. “At Knox, we are answering the call by enabling SaaS companies to achieve ATO faster and more cost-effectively. The addition of RapidFort’s FIPS images enables us to speed up the process even more while continuing to save valuable IT resources.”
“Since the outset of our partnership, we have proven that Knox and RapidFort are better together. Now we are making that combination the default,” said Mehran Farimani, CEO of RapidFort. “Every Knox customer automatically gets the most compliant and hardened container image foundation available anywhere – FIPS 140-3 validated, STIG and CIS benchmarked, and maintained at near-zero CVE. D.”
Existing Knox customers can activate RapidFort curated images through their Knox subscription portal. New customers receive access automatically upon onboarding.
About Knox Systems
Knox Systems operates the largest managed federal cloud, trusted by top agencies and partners across defense and civilian sectors. Built for speed, resilience, and compliance, Knox delivers FedRAMP authorization in 90 days – turning the biggest bottleneck in government IT into the fastest path to modernization. Knox proudly serves Adobe, Celonis, OutSystems, Armis, BigID and more AI and SaaS providers, accelerating secure innovation across the federal landscape. Learn more at www.knoxsystems.com.
About RapidFort
RapidFort is the leader in Software Supply Chain Security, enabling organizations to eliminate risk across their software stack at scale. Its platform combines curated near-zero CVE container images, runtime profiling, and attack surface management to remove up to 99.9% of vulnerabilities within hours and reduce the attack surface by up to 90% without code changes. RapidFort was identified as a Gartner® Cool Vendor™ in 2025 and a Nutanix .Next Partner of the Year in 2026. For more information visit www.RapidFort.com.
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