Guide to CMMC Certification & Everything DoD Contractors Should Know

The Federal Defense Department is one of the most main sectors that takes care of national security as well as protects the individuals who are part of the armed forces. For all contractors in the defense industrial base or DIB, security is critical to help them avoid intellectual property theft, or a breach of any confidential information related to national defense or public protection. The CMMC certification, which stands for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, helps organizations and contractors in the defense supply chain to have adequate security controls and practices to fulfill the security standards of the national defense department.

Why the CMMC is Necessary?

The CMMC is a newly introduced certification for security controls of DoD contractors, however, there was a type of self-certification previously accepted. They previously needed to self-certify their security policies or controls with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) rather than achieving any third-party compliance or validation. They never had to produce any evidence or document proving that they were following best security practices. As a result, there were security gaps in some contractors which remained unnoticed and continued to exist in their products or services. Undeniably, this was the chief cause of data breaches, theft, or disruptions across the defense industrial supply chain.

There are numerous reasons why the CMMC certification was later introduced by the US Department of Defense. It requires any organization that has contract with the defense department to validate their protection or security practices for CUI (Unclassified Information) of a federal nature with a third-party assessment or compliance agency.

Benefits of the CMMC

Getting certified ensures every DoD contractor with several benefits including:

• Helps them to defend their confidential data from current as well as potential security risks
• Validates that they have the strongest policies to protect their CUI or unclassified information that resides within their DIB network and information management systems
• Provides reassurance to contractors’ security controls with a third-party agency which is independent and gives an unbiased view
• Helps to establish security controls and level of compliance as per the extent of risks
• Assures security controls at a much more manageable cost for the federal government

Steps to Achieve CMMC Certification

Even though getting the CMMC certification is a time-consuming process and may take several months, contractors need not wait to start with the certification procedures. From documenting their cybersecurity policies to implementing the practices, from determining the cyber hygiene level to assessing the security risks, there are lots of things to plan and do before achieving CMMC compliance.

Without any delay, here are the mandatory preparation steps for achieving compliance with the CMMC.

1. Determine the appropriate CMMC level that your organization needs to achieve by reviewing your security requirements according to information types you deal with and related risks.

2. Prepare a budget for achieving the compliance which includes costs for implementing new security changes, updating existing policies, leveraging security software or applications, appointing the third-party assessment agency, and other additional costs

3. Evaluate and assess your current cybersecurity framework against the controls required to achieve the appropriate CMMC level.

4. Prepare a plan of actions as well as milestones to ensure you have a smooth path to compliance with proper arrangement of resources and time.

5. Enlist reliable independent third-party assessors who can determine the certification readiness of your organization.
6. Stay updated on the latest developments of the certification so that maintain your certification.

With all these steps completed, your organization can get the CMMC certification in the first attempt. However, CMMC is still being developed and so you need to understand its evolving requirements, seek guidance from compliance consultants, and then update your organization’s cybersecurity controls or framework.