US Federal Agency Achieves Zero-Risk Trusted Research Environment
How independent security assurance and strategic threat modeling confirmed federal-grade security for medical and biometric data research
Executive Summary
US federal agency achieved zero-risk validation for their Trusted Research Environment through independent security assessment, confirming federal-grade protection for sensitive medical and biometric research data.
Customer Profile
Agency Overview
Sector: US Federal Government
Data Type: Medical/Biometric Research Data
Environment: Trusted Research Environment (TRE)
Project Type: Multi-vendor Security Validation
Security Requirements
Validation Type: Independent Security Assurance
Standards: Federal-grade Security
Assessment Scope: AWS Architecture & TRE Design
Threat Model Coverage: Applications & Infrastructure
The Challenge
A US federal agency handling medically sensitive and biometric data needed independent security assurance for their Trusted Research Environment (TRE) platform, requiring objective validation that security implementations met federal requirements rather than vendor standards.
Independent Assurance Gap
Multiple contractors and cloud provider professional services were designing the platform, but the agency needed objective validation that recommendations served federal security requirements rather than vendor interests.
Complex Stakeholder Environment
Cloud provider professional services, independent contractors, and consultants were all providing input, requiring coordination and independent verification of security advice.
TRE Security Requirements
Trusted Research Environments must enable secure data sharing with internal and external researchers while maintaining absolute data protection and regulatory compliance.
Independent Security Assurance
Independent AWS Architecture Review
Comprehensive audit of AWS environment design with specific recommendations for secure architecture aligned to federal requirements rather than generic cloud security.
- Federal-grade security alignment vs. vendor standards
- Objective validation independent of commercial interests
- Comprehensive AWS environment assessment
Strategic Security Advisory
Independent guidance on architectural decisions including data segregation strategies, access management frameworks, and secure environment design principles.
- Data segregation strategy design
- Access management framework development
- Secure environment design principles
- Multi-vendor coordination and verification
Threat Modeling Validation
Multiple threat models for TRE applications and infrastructure components, providing objective risk assessment and security validation.
- TRE application threat modeling
- Infrastructure component risk assessment
- Objective security validation methodology
- Research data protection validation
Federal-Grade Security Achievement
Security Foundation Achievement
Final threat models produced zero meaningful risks, demonstrating proper security foundations
- Zero meaningful risks identified
Comprehensive threat modeling validation
- Federal-grade security confirmed
Strategic advisory guidance success
Independent Validation Success
Objective security assessment provided confidence in multi-vendor recommendations
- Vendor-neutral validation
Federal needs vs. commercial interests
- Multi-vendor coordination
Independent verification of advice
Architectural Security Excellence
Secure TRE design enables safe researcher access while maintaining federal protection standards
- Secure data sharing enabled
Internal and external researcher access
- Federal compliance maintained
Absolute data protection achieved
Customer Perspective
"Working with Threatplane provided the independent validation we needed for our Trusted Research Environment. Their objective assessment gave us confidence that our security architecture met federal standards rather than just vendor recommendations."
Federal Agency Security Lead, US Federal Research Agency
Federal Security Implementation Insights
Independent Expert Validation
Success required truly independent security assessment that prioritized federal requirements over vendor commercial interests, ensuring objective validation of complex multi-vendor recommendations.
TRE-Specific Security Design
Trusted Research Environment security requires unique approaches that balance researcher accessibility with absolute data protection, demanding specialized expertise in federal research security requirements.