Do I Need a Certified Third-Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO) Under CMMC 2.0?

Nov 24, 2021 Lazarus Alliance 0 Comment

The DoD recently released its framework for the next model in CMMC compliance and audits–CMMC 2.0. This revision is expected to streamline the compliance process and trim some of the extraneous requirements from the framework, helping contractors in the DoD supply chain better meet their requirements without introducing unnecessary challenges or redundancies.

One of the more important aspects of CMMC certification is the inclusion of third-party audits. With the introduction of CMMC 2.0, these requirements have changed to make certification easier for contractors without sacrificing security.

Cyber Threats to Small Businesses in 2021

Nov 18, 2021 Lazarus Alliance 0 Comment

When large tech companies talk about cybersecurity, compliance and risk management, it usually sounds like something for the big players. That is, large enterprise operations or businesses that would be the target of major attacks. The truth is, however, that our data-driven economy levels the playing field in many ways. One of these ways, unfortunately, is by making small businesses just as vulnerably to cyber attacks as their larger counterparts.

According to IBM, 2021 saw the highest average costs for breaches. On average, data breaches costs businesses in the United States up to $4.24M. While that doesn’t mean that your breach could cost you that much, it’s important to know that, no matter the size of your business, you need to take cybersecurity seriously.

What is CMMC 2.0 and, Why Is the Defense Department Changing Requirements?

Nov 10, 2021 Lazarus Alliance 0 Comment

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) framework is a relatively new yet still partially implemented set of cybersecurity regulations targeting DoD agencies and contractors. The DoD specifically built the rules to address the IT infrastructure and security practices needed to handle Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). After a lengthy review, the DoD has, as of November 2021, released an updated version of CMMC, known colloquially as CMMC 2.0.

What is CMMC 2.0? We’ll cover some of the more significant changes here, what this means for DoD contractors, and how you can prepare for the change.

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