Tetrate has become the first company to deliver a FIPS-validated (Federal Information Processing Standards) image of Istio ambient mode. Tetrate developed the enterprise-ready image under a Small Business Innovation and Research contract with the U.S. Air Force (USAF). For the first time, Istio users can deploy a service mesh architecture with sidecars, in ambient mode, or in application libraries and still meet security and performance requirements, knowing that their images are FIPS validated.

Developed under a Small Business Innovation and Research contract with the USAF, the image was built, tested, and documented in collaboration with USAF Platform One to meet FIPS compliance. The validation ensures that Istio users can confidently use ambient mode in high-security environments, a crucial step for both government and private sector systems requiring interoperability and protection against sophisticated cyber threats.

“Tetrate delivers the first FIPS-validated ambient mode image of Istio service mesh to the U.S. Air Force and simultaneously became the first-to-market with the solution for commercial enterprises as well,” said Varun Talwar, Co-Founder of Tetrate. “Now the USAF and our enterprise customers can use the service mesh architecture of their choice – with sidecars, in ambient mode, or in application libraries – and meet their security and performance needs with full assurance that their images are FIPS validated and supported by Tetrate. This is an important milestone, and we celebrate with the USAF as well as with Tetrate customers and the Istio community, who are the beneficiaries of the rapid and continuous innovation our partnership with USAF has inspired.”

Istio ambient mode, made generally available by the open source Istio community in November 2024, is a service mesh architecture that removes the need for sidecar proxies—reducing resource consumption and simplifying service mesh management. Tetrate’s FIPS-validated build makes ambient mode viable for use in defense and other high-assurance environments.

As a trusted service mesh provider for Platform One, Tetrate plays a pivotal role in national defense technology. In September 2024, Tetrate secured over $3 million in U.S. government contracts through AFWERX for cybersecurity projects, including the implementation of Istio ambient mode across USAF communications networks. This enhancement supports resilient, node-to-node communication, allowing for continuity of operations in contested environments and reduced vulnerability to adversaries.

In addition to its development work, Tetrate is a key contributor to security standards for cloud-native applications. It has partnered with NIST on guidance publications such as SP 800-233 and SP 800-228, addressing service mesh proxy models and API protection strategies, respectively—further solidifying its role as a leader in secure, scalable infrastructure for cloud-native environments.