How to Obtain CMMC Certification
The CMMC is the DoD’s new certification system for examining contracted companies’ cybersecurity environments. This certification confirms that contractors have enough cybersecurity controls and policies in place to meet the military’s security standards. Before the CMMC, enterprises may self-certify their compliance under the appropriate Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS), which are based on NIST requirements, rather than obtaining third-party validation. Companies in the DIB were not obliged to show evidence that they followed best security procedures, and this process permitted companies with security holes to continue providing products and services to the DoD. This ultimately resulted in breaches, disruptions, and other forms of intellectual property theft throughout the defense supply chain.
Because firms cannot self-certify under the cmmc, they must have their compliance reviewed by a certified third-party assessment organization (C3PAO) or a credited individual assessor. Organizations seeking compliance with the CMMC might use C3PAOs to handle the assessment process. C3PAOs provide consulting services, schedule assessments, hire and train individual assessors, and examine the results with the Quality Auditors from the CMMC-Accreditation Body (AB).
Companies interested in obtaining a CMMC audit orlando fl must first determine which maturity level they want to be audited for compliance. Companies must next locate a C3PAO who can schedule the evaluation with the qualified independent assessor. When conducting the assessment, the independent assessor will look for security flaws and determine whether the company’s environment meets the CMMC requirements for that level. Companies will have 90 days to rectify any issues with the C3PAO and close any gaps.
A CMMC certification notification will be made public if a company achieves compliance at any level. Specific results, on the other hand, will remain confidential, and certification failures will not be made public. The certification is said to be an authorized, reimbursable expense with a three-year validity period. By 2021, the Department of Defense hopes to have 1,500 CMMC certified contractors, with 48,000 by 2025.
The Department of Defense is attempting to quickly implement the CMMC, to issue 10 RFIs and 10 RFPs with CMMC standards by the end of 2020, resulting in a supply chain of about 150 certified companies for each contract awarded. While the first stages are likely to be taken in the coming months, the CMMC will be fully implemented by 2025, with over half of the primary and subcontractors being assessed by 2022. Contractors will, however, most certainly need to be certified by late 2020 to begin bidding on some projects.
