CMMC Compliance

Things DoD contractors should know about CMMC Application Process

The US Department of Defense collaborates with more than 300,000 contractors and subcontractors every day. These firms manage a significant quantity of sensitive government data, including FCI and CUI, making them prime prey for hackers and foreign governments.

The Department of Defense (DoD) announced the CMMC 0.1 in January 2020 to certify that DoD contractors have adequate cybersecurity defenses to defend CUI and FCI.

What Is CMMC?

The CMMC is a uniform cybersecurity criterion that vendors must satisfy and obtain certification for before working for the Department of Defense. This certificate validates that a vendor has implemented adequate cybersecurity safeguards to protect sensitive government data from hackers.

Contractors followed the DFARS, which enabled them to self-certify their adherence before the CMMC was founded. The difficulty with this method is that contractors are frequently misled about their compliance with DFARS cybersecurity regulations. This permitted them to work with the Department of Defense despite its infrastructure having security flaws.

The CMMC was born as a result of this. Contractors are no longer able to self-certify under the CMMC; alternatively, the evaluation will be conducted by a certified third-party assessment organization (C3PAO). This guarantees that contractors wishing to work with the Department of Defense have adequate cybersecurity procedures in place to secure CUI and FCI. Contractors are also prevented from making misleading claims regarding compliance by having the CMMC audit conducted by a third-party entity. Before bidding on and working on federal contracts, the Department of Defense mandates all prime contractors and vendors to be CMMC certified.

What Is the Process for Obtaining a CMMC Certification?

The application process for CMMC compliance is quite simple. If you want to participate in government contracts, you must first establish your firm’s maturity status. The Department of Defense will give you a level depending on the CMMC framework’s five levels, which are:

Level 1

At least Level 1 certification is needed for all DoD companies and subcontractors. This level addresses FCI security and necessitates the deployment of 17 NIST SP 800-171 rules.

Level 2

To satisfy Level 2 criteria, companies working with the Department of Defense must record their cybersecurity strategies and practices. An extra 46 NIST SP 800-171 measures must be applied to maintain CUI security.

Level 3

Contractors can manage and create CUI at this level. They must also establish cybersecurity policies aimed at safeguarding CUI. For subcontractors to be fully certified, the additional 47 NIST SP 800-171 measures should be executed at this level.

Level 4

At this level, DoD contractors must be vigilant in recognizing and countering APTs and other assaults to steal sensitive data. It also demands implementing 25 additional controls described in NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2.

Level 5

At this level, vendors should have upgraded and flexible cybersecurity processes to handle APTs and other advanced threats.

Decide To either Perform an Evaluation in-House or Consider outsourcing

Before the audit, DoD vendors can conduct a self-assessment to identify possible weak areas and shortcomings in their cybersecurity defenses. There are two options for accomplishing this:

Outsourced 

With the support of a CMMC professional, hired contractors may also complete a self-assessment. Contractors can get a CMMC certificate beyond Level 3 by working with a CMMC consultant who has the expertise and tools to adhere to NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2. standards. This is why most vendors would hire a CMMC consulting specialist instead of conducting an in-house audit.

In-House

Contractors with their own IT personnel will find this to be excellent. They can utilize the NIST Handbook 162: Self-Assessment Handbook for advice.
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CMMC Compliance

Questions you should ask when reviewing a potential Managed Services Provider

Without sound planning, it is impossible to create an optimal IT ecosystem that helps you fulfill your core promise and supports your company’s development.

Success in this field isn’t simple, and it’s nearly difficult to achieve on your own. This is because in-house IT teams are frequently trapped in a continuous loop that demands them to jump from one possible issue to the next. Strategy suffers the consequences of getting laser-focused on the immediate difficulties at hand, while big-picture possibilities are missed—or entirely neglected. While troublingly common, such a circumstance is also totally reasonable.

Compare this to enlisting the help of a seasoned managed services company for IT services for government contractors. An MSP, at its finest, is a professional multi-tasker equipped to handle day-to-day IT problems while also formulating and implementing plans tailored to your company’s long-term growth. In a relationship that resembles a collaboration, the proper MSP invests time in learning your business, keeping up with market developments, and understanding the challenges you face. With this knowledge, it can develop a service strategy that will assist your company in achieving significant and long-term growth.

When selecting an MSP, think about the following five questions:

What solutions are critical to my company’s success?

You must be safe in addition to industry-specific strategies. These days, cybersecurity necessities like antivirus software, security patches, and network equipment management are required to guarantee that your whole network—not just endpoint gadgets controlled and supported. An MSP ought to deliver these operations continuously by utilizing centralized procedures that enable transparency and management over your assets.

What is the budget?

It’s preferable to choose a plan that only charges you for what you are using. In this vein, any MSP you’re contemplating should have service packages that are adaptable, expandable, and cheap, as well as the ability to alter course on a dime when your needs change.

A competent IT solutions and services company would tailor a bundle to your needs and notify you from the start about the various levels of service they offer and offer solutions a la carte. Nevertheless, the successful contender should provide a wide range of complete solutions that eliminate the need for “additional services.”

How are their services delivered?

Cutting through the marketing hype and performing an on-site review of your potential providers can give you a better sense of a possible relationship. So, after the sales pitch, make it a point to visit the providers you’re considering. It’s good to get an idea of how their data centers work and what their network operations look like.

Does the MSP offer 24/7 IT support?

IT issues can occur at any time. Thus, you should ask the prospective IT services provider whether they offer round-the-clock IT support services or not. It’s essential to remember that some MSPs charge extra fees for providing after-hours services.

How skilled is the MSP staff?

When it comes to IT and cybersecurity, one should have specialized IT and data security knowledge. The managed services provider you have short-listed should possess proficient knowledge about networking, data security, advanced IT ecosystem, and virtualization.…

Digital Marketing Services

Metric to track your content marketing success

Do you have any idea how well your content promotion initiatives are working? Can you back it up with evidence? What’s the return on your content marketing investment? In the first place, why are you generating content? Whether you hire digital marketing Virginia Beach or have an in-house team, you should track and monitor the performance of your marketing efforts.

You should have clear objectives and efficient tactics for your content promotion strategies to be fruitful. Once you’ve put your strategy in place, you’ll need to record it and track your progress to see if it’s working. 

1. Traffic

The lifeblood of internet material is traffic. No one will read your blog content if no one visits your website.

Traffic is one statistic that must be measured. In some ways, it’s a gauge of your brand’s power, but in a manner that has some value.

You may, of course, divide this traffic into several groups. The indicators you should be monitoring in Google Analytics are:

The total count of distinct visits to your website is referred to as the number of users.

Pageviews – the overall number of instances a specific page on your website has been visited.

Unique pageviews: This measure is calculated by combining the visits of a single person who has seen your website many times.

You can utilize the raw information from these analytics to obtain a general estimate of how much traffic your site receives on different pages. You can also split down the information to determine where your visitors are originating from and what device they are using to access your site.

2. Conversions

Prospects or even sales are the eventual conversions for B2B businesses. Few customers will go from having no idea who you are to purchasing immediately from a great article. As a result, B2B companies should measure conversions all the way down the customer lifecycle, from simple memberships or click-throughs to more complex conversions like incentive enrollment.

It’s up to you to decide what constitutes a conversion. The purpose of your content may be to develop a comprehensive sale in certain circumstances, and in others, it may simply be to enhance brand recognition and credibility. If this is the situation, you should emphasize social media comments and engagement metrics.

3. Engagement

The quantity of traffic your material receives might often be a better indicator of how successful you are at persuading users to open your links than it is of how wonderful your content is.

You’ll need to measure how long users spend on your website and how many web pages they view in each visit to determine if they’re interacting with your content fully.

The idea is certainly to keep people on your Virginia Beach IT companies blog site for as long as possible.

This information is available in Google Analytics under Audience Overview. You can view the median number of web pages per visit, the average usage time, and your bounce rate here, in addition to the overall number of visits and traffic.

4. SEO Performance

You won’t get all of your traffic through social media. You must be obtaining a lot of traffic from search engines as well. In Google Analytics, you can measure the percentage of your site visits that originate from search, but this doesn’t tell you much about how well your site performs in search engines.

Rather, you’ll need to track your SEO results. You may track the number of various metrics here. SERP ranking is the most crucial factor, which refers to your page’s position in search engine outcomes for a certain keyword phrase.…