US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE · UNITED STATES
CMMC
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification for the US defense supply chain.
The practitioner view
Working with CMMC
- 01
What CMMC is
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification for the US defense supply chain. It is issued by US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE and applies across UNITED STATES. Our assessors work against it directly, so what follows is the practitioner view rather than a restatement of the text.
- 02
Who it binds
Applicability turns on what you process and who regulates you, not on your size. If US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE sets your rules, or a customer contract names CMMC, you are in scope. We map that boundary first, because an over-drawn scope is the single most expensive mistake in any programme.
- 03
What an assessor looks for
Evidence that the control operated, not that it was written down. Expect sampling across the period, interviews with the control owners, and a request for the artefacts that prove the control ran on the days it was supposed to. Policies without operating evidence are the most common finding we raise.
- 04
How to get ready
Scope it, assess the gap against the current version, remediate in priority order, then collect evidence continuously rather than in the fortnight before the audit. Evidence lag is what slips dates, not the controls themselves.
Free tools
Put a number on it before you call anyone
- FreeGuided readiness estimateA short set of questions returning a readiness score, your top gaps, an indicative cost and a timeline.Open it
- FreeCompliance cost calculatorSize, infrastructure and current readiness turned into an indicative range and timeline.Open it
- FreeAll free toolsCalculators and checkers covering cost, scope, penalty exposure, breach cost and readiness.Open it
Related
More in certifications and attestations
- CMMI V3.0ISACA / CMMI INSTITUTE · GLOBALCapability Maturity Model Integration, a model for building repeatable, measurable, continually improving organisational capability.
- ISO/IEC 27001ISO / IEC · GLOBALThe international standard for an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
- SOC 2 (AICPA)AICPA · GLOBALAn attestation report on controls relevant to security, availability and privacy.
- PCI DSSPCI SSC · GLOBALThe security standard for organisations that handle payment card data.
- SWIFT CSP / CSCFSWIFT · GLOBALSWIFT's Customer Security Controls Framework for institutions on the SWIFT network.
- PCI PIN & P2PEPCI SSC · GLOBALStandards for secure PIN management and point-to-point encryption of card data.
Not sure where to start?
Book a 30-minute call with a senior engineer. We will walk through your current posture, the frameworks that bind you, and what a realistic programme looks like.