Understanding the Aspects of CMMC Compliance

If you are a defense contractor or a business that deals in Controlled Unclassified Information, you might have come across Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. CMMC and DFARS cybersecurity are the most advanced data security framework that has been made a mandatory requirement by the DoD. Meaning, any contractor that works directly or indirectly with the DoD must be validated by the CMMC. 

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model has a wide range security maturity levels that defense contractors should meet. The compliance level helps the Department of Defense determine if a contractor is qualified for the job or not. 

With the increase in cases of data breach, it has become a challenge for the DoD to ensure the safety of Controlled Unclassified Information stored with the DIB vendors. The recent data breaches have made it essential for the DoD to address cyberattacks. CMMC compliance is one such step towards ensuring the defense contractors are protected against cyberattacks.

Ever since the CMMC has rolled out, CMMC compliance has been made a mandatory requirement by the DoD. Without meeting CMMC standards, no defense contractor can bid on government jobs or get new contracts. Noncompliance with the CMMC regulations can take away your ability to bid on DoD contracts or continue the contract. 

As of now, there are over 100 provisional assessors that are getting trained to become Level 3 certified assessor. Besides this, the DoD also released the interim DFARS cybersecurity rules last year. 

According to the interim rule, the defense contractor will be required to have an SSP, POAM, and Incident Response Plan. Some new provisions have been added that requires the defense contractor to self-score their assessment method. Another provision allows qualified and trained DoD auditors to score SSP IAW for a defense contractor. 

Many of you must be wondering why DoD has implemented CMMC. 

CMMC has been introduced by the DoD to serve as mechanism to ensure the defense contractors have taken appropriate measures to safeguard controlled unclassified information stored and processed within their systems. CMMC security model is put in place to verify whether a defense contractor has some level of data security practices. 

Every year, the DoD has to face enormous cybersecurity challenge. According to a report, the Pentagon prevents over 36 million phishing and ransomware attacks in a day. Even with all the resources, the Pentagon faced a data breach incident in 2018 in which the personal information of 30,000 employees got exposed. The information was stored in one of their third-party contractors. 

The need for a robust cybersecurity plan has been there for a long time. In 2015, when the DoD determined cybersecurity requirements in DFRAS, it required the defense contractors to comply with data security standards charted by the NIST. While the framework is effective, the implementation of the program is slow. This let the DFARS to come up with more comprehensive cybersecurity practices called the CMMC. 

The new compliance requirement ensures that a defense contractor has taken all necessary measures to protect the CUI stored in their networks. Moreover, only those contractors will be able to bid who are fully compliant.