Essential Cybersecurity for Government Contractors
If your company contracts for federal government, or hopes to, you will need to comply with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) regulations. If you don’t, you can wave goodbye to your government contracts.
Getting certified under CMMC is a complex process. It can take a year or longer – especially if you haven’t yet started work on NIST 800, which CMMC supersedes.
What is CMMC?
Cybersecurity is crucial, and perhaps nowhere more so than in the US Department of Defense (DoD). Attacks of the Defense Industrial Base and the supply chain can have devastating effects on the American economy.
As a government contractor, you are responsible for implementing cybersecurity policies and practices. CMMC makes it obligatory for you to have third-party assessments of your compliance with specific mandatory practices – ensuring that you adapt to constantly evolving cyber threats.
The CMMC standard is designed to protect federal contract information (FCI) and controlled unclassified information (CUI). CMMC describes how you must do this when you contract for the government.
You want to get CMMC ─ What is involved?
You can’t comply with CMMC standards immediately. It can take more than a year to achieve, and your company will need to be active in obtaining CMMC.
To navigate your route to CMMC, you should partner with consultants who have experience in this space. Millennium Tech USA are the consultants you need.
The first step is to assess what level of CMMC you need, and this depends upon how much exposure and how many touchpoints you have with FCI and CUI. At the lowest level, you’ll need to comply with 17 cybersecurity practices detailed in CMMC. At the highest level, there are more than 170 practices with which you must comply.
You want to maintain CMMC – think long term, and breadth and depth
When you have obtained CMMC, at the lowest level you will need to be assessed by a certified CMMC assessor either annually or triennially, dependent upon your CMMC level. Your certificates and assessments will be stored in the CMMC Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Services database. You’ll need to give the DoD permission to access assessment results.
You should also be aware that cybersecurity hygiene extends to more than protecting a database or system. You’ll need to design and maintain workflows to make certain that all controls are maintained, that staff are trained in all necessary procedures and security protocols, that controls are monitored continuously, and that you are always prepared for future assessments by evolving your practices as the landscape evolves.
Our CMMC services
We provide several services to clients, helping them obtain and maintain CMMC certification. These services include:
-
Project management of CMMC certification
-
Providing certified assessors
-
Performing assessments
-
Reviewing and monitoring
-
Training and coaching of staff in cybersecurity processes and practices
-
Disaster recovery
-
Managed data loss protection
We do the CMMC heavy lifting for you, so that you can focus on what you do best while we ensure you remain compliant.
Your first step?
Contact Millennium Tech USA to arrange a comprehensive CMMC assessment. We’ll uncover any gaps and help you fill them, so that you can bid on, win, and maintain contracts with federal government agencies covered by CMMC.