The US Department of Defense is the largest military organization in the world. With millions of employees, countless assets, and interests across the world, the DoD relies on a lot of smaller groups to function properly.
Much of this support comes from independent companies, providing their services thanks to strict agreements that have been made. With the DoD’s work often being secret, though, there have to be cybersecurity measures in place to make sure that companies with access to it can be trusted.
What Is CMMC?
CMMC, or Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, is a third-party certification that is used by the DoD to ensure that the IT infrastructure of the companies working with it is up to the right standards. These standards include the right level of data security, internal policies, and a range of other areas that companies have to meet before they can be awarded contracts with the DoD.
To make this manageable, the DoD has a range of different classifications for the types of data handling that companies will perform. Those with access to the most sensitive data will be expected to meet much stricter standards than those who are only dealing with low-priority information.
Is Your Company Affected?
It should be quite easy to tell if you need to think about CMMC for your business. Any and all companies that work with the Department of Defence have to go through this process, working to prove that they can handle data in a way that will keep it safe and secure.
There are five levels of CMMC certification available, with level one being the lightest, and level five being for companies dealing with very sensitive data. The level that you have to achieve will depend on the work you are doing, and this means that you may have to get in touch with your contact at the DoD to get a better understanding of where your business falls.
Staying Compliant with CMMC
Failing to be compliant with CMMC can result in having DoD contracts terminated, but the consequences will be much worse if you actually lose or leak data that is supposed to be secured.
Here at Cenetric, our team of data security experts and legal professionals can help you to maintain and manage a secure network for the data you interact with. We ensure that all of our clients are able to meet CMMC standards, even if you don’t work with the DoD, as we believe that this provides you with the best level of security available on the modern market.
We encourage any business that is looking to work with the Department of Defense to get in touch with our friendly team. Not only can we help you to secure your data, but we can also support you as you develop your understanding of what CMMC means for your business. Working with the DoD can be a very good way to make money while supporting the USA, but you need to make sure that you’re following the rules.