Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

CMMC is a major cost and time commitment, often months long and may cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. A C3PAO checks 320 items tied to 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls. Outcomes: full approval, conditional approval with POA&Ms (usually 180 days), or denial. If denied, fix control gaps, update the SSP and evidence, then reapply. Use proper tools and avoid assessor conflict. CMMC is unquestionably a huge investment.

There are a lot of reasons why organizations fail their FedRAMP audits and are denied the authorization they need to work on government contracts. We've even covered a lot of them here on the Ignyte blog in the past. One area that we haven't covered, in detail at least, is mistakes with the FedRAMP boundary. Not just the boundary, either, but with the diagrams that track and prove it.

Let's posit a hypothetical situation for you to think about. Let's say that you're a large company already CMMC-compliant and working with the DoD. You've identified a smaller company that offers a service complementary to your own, and you've decided to acquire that company. That smaller company claims to be CMMC-compliant, and you move forward with the acquisition.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, CMMC, is currently the most important information security framework for thousands of businesses across the country. Businesses that wish to work with the Department of Defense, or a DoD subcontractor, are quite likely to need to earn their CMMC certification in order to win those contracts. For those businesses that haven't been paying attention, this can come as a significant surprise.

Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) who either currently work with the federal government, are in the process of earning FedRAMP certification, or are considering seeking it, all have a serious choice to make. FedRAMP is changing. If you haven't been watching the world of government compliance, or if you've been putting off making a decision until a deadline gets closer, it's here. As a CSP, what do you need to know, what decision do you need to make, and how will it affect your path with government contracts?

CMMC is increasingly important for the overall security of the government, and by extension, the people. Threats are continually evolving, so security standards have to rise to meet them. Programs like CMMC exist to enforce standards capable of resisting most common threats and protecting sensitive information. It's no surprise, then, that more and more businesses are finding CMMC to be mandatory for the government contracts they want to win.

One of the biggest changes to the FedRAMP program in the history of the program itself is in progress, and it's going to change a lot of things for a lot of people. When the dust settles, it should be a net benefit across the board, but in the meantime, it's going to cause a lot of confusion. Here at Ignyte, we've been doing a lot to get ready, both as a service provider and as a 3PAO. We've been keeping tabs on what you need to know, and we'll do our best to help you navigate the changes as they occur.

Around the world, nearly 100,000 businesses have navigated the challenges of ISO 27001 and earned their certifications. If you want your business to be the next on the list, you need to understand the 11 clauses that make up the security framework, including what they are, why they exist, and what they require you to do. Let's start where you might reasonably expect to begin: with a definition of what the clauses are.

The CMMC ecosystem is poised to be very strict in a very short amount of time, which means a lot of organizations are quickly finding that they need to do a lot of work in short order. A significant area of concern is where MSPs fall into the spectrum of security. Managed Service Providers are a key part of how modern digital businesses operate, but they’re also distinct and separate from the businesses themselves.

The culmination of all of your efforts to implement CMMC rules as per your DoD contracts is the audit. Hiring a C3PAO and having your systems and security reviewed, so you can earn your certification and start working in the defense ecosystem, is the capstone to the long and arduous process. Unfortunately, many companies encounter a serious problem when it comes time to hire their C3PAO: the timeline.