Becoming CMMC compliant can seem like an almost impossible task for many organizations. With 110 or more different controls to implement, how is an organization supposed to implement them all, gather evidence of compliance, and most importantly stay compliant with every control? Not to mention the exorbitant price tag to go with it…
We believe that CMMC compliance doesn’t have to be overly complicated or expensive, and with our Compliance Manager Tool, we work with every client to find the best solutions to their unique position. That’s why the CMMC compliance experts at FirstCall Consulting put together these four basic steps that everyone will go through when undergoing the CMMC compliance journey.
1. Conduct a Gap Analysis-
A Gap Analysis is the first step in any journey to compliance. An organization needs to compare where they are currently at, to where they want to be. The Network Compliance Scanner and CMMC compliance experts from FirstCall Consulting will evaluate your environment, and compare it to the NIST 800-171 standard. We will then make a System Security Plan (SSP) and a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) tailored to your organization.
2. Develop a SSP and POA&M-
Based on the results of the Gap Analysis, FirstCall Consulting’s team of CMMC compliance experts will craft a SSP and POA&M. An SSP is a formal document that provides an overview of the security requirements for an information system and describes the security controls in place or planned for meeting those requirements. A POA&M are the steps and milestones an organization will take to address any deficiencies in their system to become compliant.
3. Execute the POA&M-
This is different for every organization, but in general these are some of the ways that we can help our partners become CMMC compliant:
- Policy and procedure development- you don’t need a policy for every family or every control, but you do need policies to cover all families and all controls. E.g. A policy can cover multiple families and controls.
- Managed Services- Many organizations face a talent gap when it comes to protecting and monitoring their endpoint protection software, and keeping it up to date. FirstCall Consulting solves this challenge with our 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC).
- Endpoint Protection- organizations need to have endpoint protection on all of their devices. Not just to become compliant, but to stay safe as well.
- SIEM Tool- A SIEM, or security information and event management tool, gives you unparalleled visibility into your network. This tool logs and captures everything that is happening inside your network and Microsoft 365 or G-Suite cloud-based apps. Using AI, it automatically alerts you when anything suspicious happens.
- Vulnerability Scanning– With FirstCall Consulting’s vulnerability scanner, you will automatically see what vulnerabilities in your environment are exposed. Every month, we will run this report to help you satisfy all compliance requirements and help with the remediation to make sure your assets are protected.
- Dark Web Scanning– we help keep you safe and compliant by continually scanning the dark web and will let you know if any of your personal data is exposed.
- Network Compliance Scanning– just because you get compliant, doesn’t mean you stay compliant. It is all too common for employees to feel relieved after passing an audit and they forget to do some of the things that keep them safe. Our network compliance scanner runs on a monthly basis to check and see if anything in your network has fallen out of compliance, so you can quickly and easily know what to fix.
- Advanced Ransomware Protection– if any sort of ransomware was to get through your organization’s defenses, our Advanced Ransomware Protection will prevent ransomware from encrypting your valuable data.
4. Conduct a Final Assessment
We recommend conducting one Final Assessment to ensure that you will pass an external audit. An updated SSP will be developed, and for any lingering deficiencies that are discovered, a new POA&M will be created. We recommend this because if an organization fails an external audit, they will only have a short amount of time to develop a POA&M and address any deficiencies. By conducting another assessment, an organization will have the time and resources to evaluate all of their options and make the best decision.
The clock is ticking. The CMMC requirements are fast approaching and will soon impact all DoD contracts (if not already). Check your company’s readiness and get an assessment with help from the experts at FirstCall, where we can assess what needs improving in order for you to stay compliant.
