What is FedRAMP ConMon?
FedRAMP ConMon (Continuous Monitoring) is the post-authorization monitoring program required of all FedRAMP-authorized cloud services. It implements NIST 800-53 CA-7 for federal cloud workloads. ConMon requires monthly vulnerability and configuration scan submissions, with annual control-set reassessment. Continuous CIS benchmark scanning is a core ConMon deliverable for configuration-based controls.
The longer answer.
FedRAMP authorization is not the finish line; it is the entry ticket to an ongoing obligation. Once a cloud service is authorized, its provider must keep proving that the security posture the authorization was granted against still holds. ConMon is the structured way agencies and the FedRAMP program keep that assurance current, translating the abstract CA-7 requirement into concrete recurring submissions a reviewer can inspect.
Operationally that means a cadence of deliverables: regular vulnerability and configuration scans, an updated plan of action and milestones for open findings, and periodic reassessment of the control set. For the configuration side, a scanner that continuously checks systems against hardening benchmarks produces exactly the artifact ConMon expects, letting the provider assemble monthly evidence without standing up a separate manual process each cycle.
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