CMMC Compliance – It Takes A Village

No doubt you’re familiar with the saying “It takes a village to raise a child.” In other words, for children to grow up safe and healthy, it requires a network of people interacting with and influencing them—not just their parents, but grandparents and other extended family, friends, teachers, neighbors, as well as caring adults from clubs, athletic teams, religious institutions, or any other groups they might belong to.

By the same token, compliance with Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) requires the efforts of a similar proverbial village. In this case, the village is your company. And that means your entire company, not just the IT department.

More Than I.T.—Everyone Is a Stakeholder

It’s easy to get the mistaken idea that CMMC is solely an IT responsibility; after all, “cyber” is a computing term, and cybersecurity has historically fallen into IT’s bailiwick. However, it was never really that simple—cybersecurity affects everyone and always has—and now more than ever, with the integration of cyber and physical systems, cybersecurity is growing increasingly intertwined with physical security, financial security, customer service, and every other aspect of your company’s well-being. The advent of CMMC takes that trend even further.

CMMC is concerned with protecting sensitive data that you handle as a contractor or subcontractor working for the Department of Defense (DoD). Compliance with CMMC means that you have the policies and procedures in place to protect that data and the systems that handle it—and that every person in your company follows those policies and procedures. In other words, all your stakeholders need to be involved, and everyone in your company is a stakeholder.

Security Starts at the Top—and Just Keeps Going

Getting universal support for CMMC compliance means it needs to be driven from the top down. C-level executives who recognize the importance of compliance will foster a culture that takes security seriously. They can do this by making CMMC a priority, by championing the necessary policies and procedures, and by allocating the resources—money, time, and people—needed for compliance. When top management gets on board with CMMC compliance, the rest of the company will follow suit. This includes:

• Sales and Business development. CMMC will be required across the board within five years. Whether your company is a direct DoD contractor or a subcontractor working for DoD primes, your business development team needs to be aware of CMMC requirements and help drive the company toward compliance in order to keep business flowing in.
• Sourcing and procurement. Conversely, those teams who engage the services of outside organizations to help with some part of your government work will need to ensure those organizations are compliant to the level required, depending on the data they handle for you.
• Core operations. Those responsible for carrying out the day-to-day work for the DoD will need to be aware of and closely follow security policies and procedures to ensure the systems and data they work with are properly protected.
• Facilities management and security. As mentioned above, cyber and physical security are increasingly integrated; these teams must work closely with IT security teams to enforce security procedures and ensure an overall secure environment.
• Communications and training. These teams will ensure that all employees are aware of the company’s compliance goals and are trained in following the policies and procedures that apply to them.
• Everyone. The bottom line is that compliance is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone needs to follow the policies and procedures; everyone needs to be aware of the company’s security and potential threats; and everyone needs to do their part, whether large or small, to ensure the organization achieves and maintains compliance.

Contact CyberNINES to Learn More

You can contact us at this link to find out more about CMMC or about how our company can help your company prepare for compliance.

Next up—a Business Development trap you don’t want to fall into!

Resources

• https://dodcio.defense.gov/CMMC/About/
• https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/15/2024-22905/cybersecurity-maturity-model-certification-cmmc-program
• https://blog.cybernines.com/tech-at-the-top-c-levels-crucial-involvement-with-it-and-cybersecurity
• https://blog.cybernines.com/the-time-is-now-convergence-of-cyber-and-physical-security