In the age of CMMC and pending independent third-party assessments of defense contractors’ compliance with their contractual cybersecurity obligations, there is a lot of misinformation out there about which Microsoft 365 environment meets your regulatory compliant needs. As a Microsoft Direct CSP and Azure Government CSP partner, we (Ariento) figured we’d address the most frequent questions our team receives when working with clients on their government cyber compliance journey. Note: a lot of this evaluation can be applied to other public cloud service providers (e.g. Google, Zoom, Google, Amazon, etc.) as well.
CMMC Timeline Update: DoD Submits CMMC Program to Office of Management and Budget for Review
On July 24th, the Department of Defense submitted the Cybersecurity Model Maturity Certification (CMMC) Program to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. So, what exactly does this mean for Defense contractors and when would a CMMC certification requirement start to show up in contracts solicitations?
DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to Defense Contractors
On April 27, 2022, Aerojet Rocketdyne agreed to pay roughly $9 million to settle a False Claims Act complaint relating to overstated levels of cybersecurity compliance and controls. The case is significant because it is the first time that a whistleblower has successfully used the False Claims Act to hold a defense contractor accountable for cybersecurity fraud. The case also sets an important precedent for future whistleblowers who are trying to hold defense contractors accountable for cybersecurity violations.