The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) has been introduced by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) as a measure to help streamline the businesses in the DoD supply chain and also as a way to protect the unclassified information that is generated, processed, and used by these businesses.
The CMMC model consists of various regulations, frameworks, and rules that businesses will apply in their internal processes to ensure that they meet various requirements of the CMMC model. Different business types will need to implement processes and best practices outlined in the CMMC system to demonstrate that they have the right infrastructure to qualify them for the different qualifications of CMMC standards. while some businesses will need to constantly upgrade and change their processes so that they can reach higher tiers of the CMMC qualifications, businesses that only operate at a certain level or with a specific kind of information will only need to qualify for the level that is relevant to them.
Companies that are engaged in business with the DoD and are part of the ecosystem in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) have to work with two types of information. The Federal Contract Information (FCI) information is that which is not intended for release to the public and is used by the government and the contractor to aid the development of a product or a service. On the other hand, there is Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) which is either generated by the government or a DoD contractor and needs to be kept private in a very specific way. Moreover, CUI encompasses a lot of information that was previously labeled in a different way, rather than having so many varying titles for information, now they are all collectively referred to as CUI.
By using the CMMC standard and adhering to the policies therein, companies help protect these types of sensitive information while at the same time protecting themselves and the government.
By employing the CMMC model not only are companies improving the way they can protect data, but also the way in which it is processed. The various levels of the CMMC require companies to process information in certain ways and have specific methods through which the information is stored and used. While this helps the company on its own, it also makes it possible for all other companies at varying levels of the CMMC model to collaborate with each other. As the information is stored and used in a homogenous way, it can seamlessly be shared between CMMC compliant companies and there is no need for any further processing.
With industries as large as the DIB one of the biggest problems is that some companies that don’t have enough security are often the gateway for attackers to reach larger companies, even though these larger companies have tighter security measures. Through the CMMC model, companies that don’t qualify for a CMMC level will automatically be excluded and the remaining pool of companies will only consist of those who are CMMC compliant. Even though they are compliant to varying levels, the baseline of security will be established. In this way not only is the information protected but all companies are also playing a role in protecting each other.
In the past companies had to comply with a lot of different regulations that were specific to certain kinds of information. This was a cumbersome and expensive process for businesses as they needed a new certification every time they expanded their operations. The CMMC model standardizes all these requirements and makes it possible for businesses to easily progress through different tiers of the same model and achieve more certifications as the need arises. This makes it much easier and cheaper for businesses to expand their operations.