You’re in the right place if the US Government or your prime contractor told you that you need to get a CMMC certification. What is CMMC? CMMC is an initialization for the term “Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification”. This term was Read More
Category: CMMC Basics
C3PAO Shopping Guide
The National Defense Information Sharing & Analysis Center (ND-ISAC) is pleased to announce the release of a “C3PAO Shopping Guide for Small & Medium-Sized Businesses.” The guide was created through a team effort among participants in ND-ISAC’s Small & Medium-Sized Business Read More
CMMC JSVA program – what you need to know
Some tidbits about CMMC’s Joint Surveillance Voluntary Assessment (JSVA) program that you might not know: JSVA program is intended to train C3PAOs and CMMC Assessors 1) The DoD is essentially using the JSVA program to train and vet our private Read More
What is “Certified” as the result of assessment??
What exactly is “certified” when you go through a CMMC or Joint Surveillance assessment, or when you self-assess your environment and report it to the DoD? What does it mean when you want to bid on contracts using this certification? Read More
CMMC assessment? Don’t let pride take you down
Getting CMMC assessed? Some advice.. Listen to your assessor If we say that your evidence isn’t related to the requirement being inspected, or especially the critical words “I think you have misinterpreted this requirement”, instead of getting mad, take a Read More
CMMC Level 2 Self-Assessment Analysis
Our sponsor, Kieri Solutions, has released an in-depth review and analysis of CMMC Level 2 Self-Assessments according to the CMMC Proposed Rule. Not official guidance for CMMC Proposed Rule This paper is for educational purposes and is not authoritative in Read More
Webinar – CMMC Proposed Rule Review
Our sponsor, Kieri Solutions, produced this webinar to review the hottest topics of the CMMC Proposed Rule. Thanks to Vincent Scott, Brian Hubbard, Jil Wright, and Amira Armond (all Certified CMMC Assessors and Instructors) for providing insightful review and commentary! Read More
Is GCC-High required to pass CMMC?
Amira Armond (CMMC Instructor, Certified CMMC Assessor, President Kieri Solutions) answers the question “Is GCC-High required to pass a CMMC assessment?” This is actually an explanation of what the FedRAMP program is and is not. This video is meant for Read More
Joint Surveillance Assessment – what is it like?
This is an interview with Jose Rojas (TTC) and Ozzie Saeed (IntelliGRC) about their experience being assessed by Kieri Solutions, an Authorized C3PAO, as part of the Joint Surveillance Voluntary assessment program. Other than the obvious congratulations to both of Read More
Why so few Defense contractors are compliant
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤? One year? Two? Three? Let me tell you a story about how a system of perverse incentives caused our current cybersecurity situation in the Defense Read More
Podcast – increasing the likelihood of passing CMMC assessments
This podcast by Omnistruct features Amira Armond, John Riley, and George Usi. Recorded in May-June 2023. They discuss the basics of CMMC, the “hardest” requirement (FIPS of course), the aspects that contractors have the most difficulty with, and the status Read More
CMMC Breaking News – July 25, 2023
Today we had two big events in #CMMC and US Federal Contractor Cybersecurity. The Rule for CMMC moved to the Office of Management and Budget. That means a timer has started, 90 days or less, for the review to complete. Expect the Read More
CMMC Scoping for Level 2
This video is provided by Amira Armond and Jil Wright (CMMC Provisional Assessors and Provisional Instructors) from Kieri Solutions, an Authorized C3PAO. Topics discussed in the video are: This content is way more than the CCP course blueprint covers and more in-depth than what is Read More
CMMC Scoping for Level 1
This video is provided by Amira Armond and Jil Wright (CMMC Provisional Assessors and Provisional Instructors) from Kieri Solutions, an Authorized C3PAO. Topics included are: Enjoy, and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for lots of other CMMC Read More
Excuses that won’t work for your CMMC assessment
Public Safety Announcement for #CMMC and DIBCAC assessments of 800-171 compliance. “My _________ is scheduled to occur in January and we haven’t reached January yet.” – said too many Organizations Seeking Certification Do not try to use this excuse to explain why Read More
Lessons learned from two (three?) DIBCAC assessments
On behalf of CMMCAudit.org, I’m excited to share this interview with Jake Williams about his lessons learned from two DIBCAC assessments of DFARS 252.204-7012 and NIST SP 800-171 compliance. This video is packed with actionable information about what to expect during assessments. Read More
CMMC Annual Compliance Tasks
This article discusses six annual CMMC compliance tasks that are ideal for the quiet holiday season
Trends in 800-171 reporting and SPRS scores
Author: Amira Armond, the president of Kieri Solutions – an authorized CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) providing CMMC assessments, CMMC consulting, and Compliance Documentation packages designed for small/medium business. This graphic depicts my personal experience talking with defense contractors Read More
MSPs and CMMC Compliance
Are you using a Managed Service Provider for your CMMC-compliant information system? Are you a Managed Service Provider with defense contractor clients? This article discusses the risks and pitfalls of having an MSP “in-scope” during your CMMC assessment, and gives Read More
CMMC Scope – are you ready for an assessment?
This article gives examples and explanations of how to identify your CMMC scope to an assessor when you are planning…
CMMC 2.0 Scoping Scenarios Analysis
This detailed analysis of the CMMC Scoping Guide for Level 2 is meant for educational purposes only. It discusses 12 common scenarios and gives recommendations for scoping.
The underestimated .998’s – procedure requirements for CMMC
CMMC Level 3 wants procedures, AKA the 998 requirements, but what does that actually mean? And what is necessary to pass?
Top 5 misconceptions about building a CMMC Level 3 network
Almost every defense contractor makes one or more of these design errors when they start building their CMMC Level 3 network
System Security Plan for 800-171 and CMMC
How to video and training on what a System Security Plan is, what it is used for, and what a high quality one looks like!
CMMC Assessment Part 3 – Interview with Jeff Dalton
This is Part 3 of our CMMC Assessment series with Jeff Dalton (the lead trainer of the CMMC Provisional Assessors). Q&A about assessments!
CMMC Compliance FAQs – Organizations seeking certification
This article is provided by Kieri Solutions, an Authorized CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization, offering CMMC assessment services. Thanks to them for sharing some of the secret sauce! This article is meant to provide short explanations on topics that are Read More
CMMC-AB Jeff Dalton – the CMMC Assessment Process – Part 1
Interview with Jeff Dalton (CMMC-AB) about CMMC assessments. Who is authorized to perform assessments? When should you do a pre-assessment? Can you fix issues found during an assessment?
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
Conversations from LinkedIn
This page is an index of LinkedIn discussions and posts about CMMC and 800-171. It will be updated over time with new topics.
CMMC Level 3 Assessment Guide Webinar and Review
The CMMC Level 3 Assessment Guide is published! Video about how to read and use it. Critical review of the guide by Amira Armond.