CMMC Level 1 certification and preparation (how-to)

If you are reading this article, you are probably the owner of a small DoD contracting company.  You’ve heard something about the CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) either through your prime contractor or the SBA education office.  You might be Read More

CMMC-AB Regan Edens interview on DFARS, FedRAMP, and AB authority

This interview with Regan Edens (CMMC-AB Chairman of the Standards Management Committee) clarifies clouds and CMMC, FedRAMP, and DFARS questions for Organizations Seeking Certification (OSCs)

CMMC RM.2.142 Scan for vulnerabilities in organizational systems

This article is an in-depth review of the CMMC Level 2 Requirement RM.2.142 on the topic of vulnerability scanning. I break out frequently asked questions and reference other requirements that are related to vulnerability scanning. This requirement also applies to current DFARS 252.204-7012 and NIST SP 800-171 organizations that hold CUI

Webinar on CMMC Level 1 by the Software Engineering Institute (CMU)

This webinar is a great resource for organizations no matter what CMMC level you expect to need. It is released by Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute. This is the organization that helped the DoD develop the original CMMC model. Read More

Where is the Easy Button for CMMC? Why MSPs may be the solution.

CMMC and DFARS compliance is too expensive for small businesses. This article describes “easy button” solutions such as a CMMC MSP, using …

CMMC ML.2.999 Developing an effective CMMC Policy

This webinar is published by Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) – the co-authors of the CMMC Model. Their guidance about the CMMC should be considered authoritative. At CMMC level 2 and above, organizations are expected to have policies Read More

Introducing the CMMC Kill Chain – Zero to full compliance

Author: Tom Cornelius| Senior Partner at ComplianceForge | Founder & Contributor at Secure Controls Framework (SCF) Originally published on LinkedIn on October 19, 2020 The concept of creating a “CMMC Kill Chain” started off as a bit of a dare… kind Read More

CMMC Level 4 – Discussion on Process Maturity – ML.4.996

This video from Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (co-authors of the CMMC Model) discusses CMMC Level 4 Maturity. The specific topic is CMMC requirement ML.4.996 “Review and measure [DOMAIN NAME] activities for effectiveness” SEI Blog: https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/sei_blog/cybersecurity-maturity-model-certification-cmmc/

CMMC Glossary, Terms, and Definitions. Who’s who in CMMC

As the CMMC ecosystem grows, it is starting to get hard to track all the key players and concepts. This page is meant as an easy to understand “who’s who” and “what’s what” for the CMMC. This CMMC glossary of Read More

CMMC PS.2.127 Personnel Screening and US Citizen discussion

The CMMC version 1.0 has the following security requirement. CMMC Personnel Security (PS) PS.2.127 (Level 2) “Screen individuals prior to authorizing access to organizational systems containing CUI.” This is a Level 2 requirement. There are no level 3, 4, or Read More

CMMC Version 1.0 Released – Analysis for DoD contractors

As promised, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) version 1.0 was released to the public on January 31, 2020. The document should be stable at this point.  Cybersecurity leads for defense contractors need to read through it as soon as Read More

Remote Management & Access Tools for 800-171 and CMMC

A question came up today from a client that has a large remote workforce. “How can my help desk manage end user devices while staying compliant with 800-171 and CMMC?” For example, can we use remote access tools like LogMeIn Read More