No matter where you fall in the supply chain, if your products or services end up at a government agencies, you are very important to U.S. national security. And to protect your business, your employees and the nation from cyber threats, the Department of Defense is requiring all government contractors and their suppliers to adhere to a new set of cybersecurity standards called CMMC, or Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification.
“Improving cyber education is as essential to our national security as developing advanced weaponry.”
~ Lt. General Karen Gibson, Retired Deputy Director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Find out which CMMC level your business should be operating under and how Lionfish Cyber Security™ can help prepare you for a compliance audit.
About CMMC
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) newest verification mechanism designed to ensure that cybersecurity controls and processes adequately protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that resides on Defense Industrial Base (DIB) systems and networks. The DoD implemented requirements for safeguarding Covered Defense Information (CDI) and cyber incident reporting through the release of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7012 in October 2016. The DFARS directed DoD Contractors to self-attest that adequate security controls were implemented within contractor systems to ensure that CDI confidentiality was maintained. The security controls required to be implemented by the DFARS are defined within National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations. The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD (A&S)) started the process of creating the CMMC in March 2019, with the finalization of the CMMC in 2020.
CMMC will not be required for all contractors immediately and will be phased in for certain DoD-identified contractors beginning in September 2020. When fully operational, the CMMC will be mandatory for all entities doing business with the DoD at any level. Prime contractors, and their subcontractors, will be required to meet one of the five CMMC trust levels, and demonstrate that cybersecurity has been sufficiently implemented through the completion of independent validation activities. Initial Award, or continuance, of a DoD contract will be dependent upon CMMC compliance. No contractor organizations will be permitted to receive or share DoD information related to programs and projects without having completed the CMMC process. At the time that a contractor’s contract is up for renewal they must be CMMC compliant.
In January 2020 the CMMC will release a checklist for contractors which will allow them to identify how well they currently comply with the framework, and to assist with planning and implementing security maturity tasks. The CMMC will be included as a component of Requests for Information (RFIs) in mid-2020 and is expected to be included in Requests for Proposal (RFPs) by late 2020. The required CMMC compliance level will be contained in sections L & M of RFPs, making cybersecurity an “allowable cost” in DoD contracts.
CMMC will combine elements of various cybersecurity control standards such as NIST SP 800-171, NIST SP 800-53, ISO 27001, ISO 27032, AIA NAS9933, and others, into one unified standard for CUI cybersecurity.
There will be five cumulative Certification levels to the CMMC:
- Level 1 – Basic Cyber Hygiene: Includes basic cybersecurity appropriate for small companies utilizing a subset of universally accepted common practices. The processes at this level would include some performed practices, at least in an ad hoc manner. This level has 35 security controls that must be successfully implemented.
- Level 2 – Intermediate Cyber Hygiene: Includes universally accepted cybersecurity best practices. Practices at this level would be documented, and access to CUI data will require multi-factor authentication. This level includes an additional 115 security controls beyond that of Level 1.
- Level 3 – Good Cyber Hygiene: Includes coverage of all NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 1 controls and additional practices beyond the scope of current CUI protection. Processes at this level are maintained and followed, and there is a comprehensive knowledge of cyber assets. This level requires an additional 91 security controls beyond those covered in Levels 1 and 2.
- Level 4 – Proactive: Includes advanced and sophisticated cybersecurity practices. The processes at this level are periodically reviewed, properly resourced, and are improved regularly across the enterprise. In addition, the defensive responses operate at machine speed and there is a comprehensive knowledge of all cyber assets. This level has an additional 95 controls beyond the first three Levels.
- Level 5 – Advanced / Progressive: Includes highly advanced cybersecurity practices. The processes involved at this level include continuous improvement across the enterprise and defensive responses performed at machine speed. This level requires an additional 34 controls.