If you’re not familiar with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), welcome aboard, and read all about it here.
If you do business with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) chances are that you have been called, emailed, or directly messaged on LinkedIn, about CMMC by now. Not all these communications are presented in good faith. Those after a quick buck are looking to take advantage of the ecosystem’s infancy and the vast array of messaging coming through all channels. Organization’s seeking certification (OSCs) should conduct their own thorough due diligence before engaging a CMMC services provider.
Qualified CMMC vendors are listed through the CMMC’s Accreditation Body, conveniently centralized on their marketplace (https://cmmcab.org/marketplace/). All certification assessments (Level 2) must be performed by a CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). Note: These have not started yet. The only other credible contact would be for a Readiness Assessment performed by a Registered Practitioner (RP) employed by a Registered Provider Organization (RPO) OR a C3PAO.
We here at Monarch ISC, the 7th C3PAO out of 8 (at time of publication), have had the privilege to work with more than a few proactive OSCs that have been working on CMMC-readiness from very early on. Their desire to become early adopters is commendable. Whether or not an early adopter, opportunities in this new “green field” of cybersecurity regulations have seen a predictable arising of opportunists. We have seen first-hand the types of marketing that is circulating frequently.
Scare tactics, facades of expertise, and bloated authority attempt to persuade DoD contractors that they are at risk of being out of compliance. One such message, detailed below, highlights the smarmy tactics frequently landing in the inboxes of our partners, and all organizations in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) supply chain.
One line reads, “…to inform you of the newest update to the CMMC 2.0 where it is now obligatory for a third-party company to test your standard.” This pitch is problematic on many levels, and is simply not true. Yes, there will soon be an obligation for OSCs seeking Level 2 Certification to be assessed by a C3PAO. However, OSCs seeking Level 1 certification in CMMC Version 2 will self-attest. Again, it is very important to note that there are only 8 C3PAOs currently and not one of them has performed a certification assessment. In fact, the voluntary period for early adopters seeking to be certified before the DoD completes rule making, is still several months away. The email continues, “[company x] provides a highly professional service with competitive prices where we can test your current standard and help you receive your CMMC 2.0 update.” Where to begin? OSC’s will be assessed for compliance, and they will receive a certification, not an “update.” Read carefully before engaging these charlatans.
It is important to restate that any OSC’s search for a partner to help get ready for CMMC certification should begin at the CMMC-AB’s marketplace. Vendors like this example will not be found there.
Everybody, take a breath. There is time to research and select qualified and certified vendors to help with CMMC readiness and/or get on a list for a legitimate Certification Assessment. Pay no head to those attempting to use fear and a false sense of urgency to take advantage of the uncertainty.
If you’re looking to get up to speed relatively quickly about all that’s happening, learn the language of the CMMC, and avoid the fraudsters, we strongly recommend OSCs find a Licensed Training Partner, and send a representative through the official Certified CMMC Professional (CCP) course.
Ultimately, the CCP helps maximize the OSC’s homefield advantage. Speaking the CMMC native language and anticipating perquisites can minimize the cost for your organization in achieving compliance and/or certification. The course will strengthen your due diligence superpowers, and better enable your ability to spot something sketchy from a mile away.
The Certified CMMC Professional (CCP) certification empowers OSC to navigate the CMMC ecosystem. The certification also provides the knowledge to manage the internal side of a certification assessment. Training ensures the organization’s assessment goes smoothly because the 110 required security practices are demonstrably performed, documented, and managed (at Level 2).
The Certified CMMC Professional (CCP) training program through Monarch ISC (CMMC Registered Practitioner Organization (RPO), Licensed Training Partner (LTP), and C3PAO, leverages decades of field experience merged with the accredited curriculum authorized through the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Accreditation Body (CMMC AB). This one-week instructor-led live online training will empower students to prepare for their CCP exam, to be released in October.
John H Rogers, CISSP, CMMC-Provisional Instructor, CMMC-Registered Practitioner, and candidate Provisional Assessor (pending suitability check) has been a technical trainer since 2002, with information and cybersecurity subject matter the focus of training and curricula development. Rogers has conducted hundreds of training sessions, including end-user awareness training, technical training for IT Professionals, leadership and board-level education, and public presentations to a wide audience across the country. Consistently rated excellent in student evaluations, Rogers brings humor, extensive subject matter expertise, and 22 years of field experience as a Senior Cybersecurity Advisor into the classroom to every session.
Read Also: 5 Observations About CMMC 2.0 (monarchisc.com)
All content © 2021 Monarch ISC
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) has been released!
The certification will be required for all Department of Defense contractors AND sub-contractors. Audits will begin in 2020. The audit timelines and the list of approved auditors have not been released.
Special Note: DoD Guidance for self-assessment scoring has been updated! You will need to provide your self-assessment (Basic) of the NIST 800-171 guidance to the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS). The system is online NOW! Do you know your score?
NOW is the time to start the certification process, so contact us for a free consultation.
For many organizations this is a strange new world. Data security requirements have been in place for banks, merchants accepting credit cards, and healthcare organizations, but never have manufacturers and other government contractors with unclassified information faced this type of scrutiny.
This can be an overwhelming amount of work.
The certification domains cover a wide variety of topics from Asset Management to System and Information Integrity. You will need to implement the correct controls, write the appropriate policies, and keep track of your compliance activities in preparation of an audit. Failure to be certified will mean thousands, or millions, of dollars in lost government contracts.
Monarch ISC can help.
The FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool measures the maturity of your financial institution’s information security program. The tool helps define your current inherent risk profile and assess your compliance status across the security domains.
It can be a daunting exercise to complete.
We can help!
Our experts work with your team to complete the assessment and document any gaps in compliance. We will build a timeline for remediation, and can assist with training, risk assessments, policy building, business continuity exercises, board reporting, and more. Our work will fill the gaps and increase your maturity level.
You made sure your Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system was HIPAA-compliant. Did you know that is just the first step in making your practice HIPAA-compliant?
You take great care of your patients, and you know that means taking great care of your patients’ sensitive personal data, too. But complying with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) can be as complicated as some of the things you learned in medical school.
Monarch Information Security Consulting understands what the law demands of you and your practice, can evaluate what you need to do to meet those expectations, and will create a customized and easy-to-understand plan for you to achieve complete HIPAA compliance and get back to caring for your patients with confidence.
Our consultants have over 40 years of experience in identifying, evaluating, and remediating HIPAA compliance. We take the time to get to know you and your organization, and we create a comprehensive map of your entire data flow. We pinpoint your vulnerabilities and infractions, we provide a smart, straightforward plan to achieve sustainable, HIPAA compliant data security, and we stand by you and our work in the event of an audit.
People are your weakest link. We deliver effective training to any organizational group to strengthen the whole chain, from end-users, to IT Professionals, to Board of Directors, and every level in-between. Everyone must gain awareness and develop the skills needed in their roles to make an organization resilient to adverse events and incidents.
Our live instructor-led training sessions:
Engage us to follow-up the training with phishing email test campaigns to measure the effectiveness of our training too! We’re confident you’ll see results!
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Our highly effective policies and plans are currently in-force at banks, credit unions, healthcare facilities, and DoD contractors. Our careful iterative process ensures your organization is understood before the writing begins. Your policies and plans need to express actual practices, not some templatized check-box fantasy that bears little resemblance to your unique organization.
We will work with you to create a new Information Security Program, or dramatically improve your existing program or any component to include:
Monarch ISC Information Security Program documents have undergone two-decades of regulatory and audit scrutiny, passed every test, and set the standard. They are the bedrock on which you will build your information security program.
V-ISO is our most engaged and complete service offering at Monarch ISC. You select the components, and we execute an annualized program acting as an outsourced member of your internal team.
This package may include everything we offer, or any of several sets of core program components. We bundle your choices, provide privileged pricing, and schedule our year together to build the program foundations. Once the foundations are built, we move into Sustainability Mode, still providing whatever level of engagement you choose.
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