Booz Allen Hamilton announced it signed an enterprise license agreement with Chainguard to expand the software across its federal portfolio as federal software teams are challenged with keeping pace with security needs without cutting corners.
The deal is meant to help agencies navigating Authority to Operate processes, manage common vulnerabilities and exposures, and meet supply chain mandates, the company said.
“We’re excited to announce an enterprise license agreement (ELA) between Chainguard and Booz Allen Hamilton — one of the most significant steps we’ve taken to bring secure-by-default open source software to the heart of the U.S. government,” said Tom White, senior director of public sector partners at Chainguard, in an article announcing the deal on the company’s site.
Now, over 6,000 Booz Allen engineers have access to Chainguard Containers and Chainguard Libraries across programs to support the Department of War, the Intelligence Community and federal civilian agencies.
“Federal missions require both speed and trust. The federal mission requires both speed and trust. Chainguard’s container images give our engineers a strong foundation for both — they are minimal, continuously rebuilt to remove known vulnerabilities, and shipped with a transparent supply chain,” said Leo Barella, senior vice president and CIO at Booz Allen Hamilton.
“Expanding the use of Chainguard across our delivery environments can help us accelerate secure, reliable outcomes for our customers.”
Chainguard Containers offers a library of more than 2,600 container images built from source within hardened infrastructure. Each image is delivered with no known common vulnerabilities and exposures at release, along with signed software bills of materials and attestations to ensure supply chain transparency, and FIPS-validated cryptography to meet federal compliance needs.
The agreement builds on Booz Allen’s successful use of Chainguard Containers to streamline vulnerability remediation and strengthen security postures of critical mission ecosystems for government customers. This resulted in fewer common vulnerabilities and exposures, and quicker compliance timelines.
“The work Booz Allen does touches nearly every corner of the federal government. When an organization of that scale decides that the integrity of every software component is non-negotiable and backs it up with how they build software, it sets a new bar for the industry,” said Dan Lorenc, CEO and Co-founder of Chainguard. “By expanding the use of Chainguard, they’re proving that speed and security aren’t a tradeoff.”