Dan Baldini
CMMC Timeline Update - 32 CFR Final Rule Sent ...

On June 27, 2024 the CMMC Program Final Rule (32 CFR) has moved to the last step prior to finalization and publication.  The rule is now in OIRA (Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs) review.   This is the last step before publication in the federal register.

CMMC Timeline Update - 32 CFR Final Rule Sent For Final Review
Chris Rose
Defense Contractors and The Cloud: Which ...

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.

Defense Contractors and The Cloud: Which version of Microsoft 365 is right for you?
Bryan Crosson
DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to ...

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.

DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to Defense Contractors
Compliance
Chris Rose
An FAQ Guide to the CMMC (Pilot) Joint ...

With news that the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) implementation is being pushed back (again) to 2024, the CMMC pilot program (called Joint Surveillance) becomes ever more important as it is the only option for organizations that desire to be a first mover in receiving their CMMC certification. At last check, there have been a total of seven completed assessments under the pilot program, and while that may seem low, interest is clearly high as our CMMC Third Party Assessor Organization (C3PAO) teams continue to receive questions about the program from Organizations Seeking Certification (OSC). This blog post addresses the most common questions we have seen.

An FAQ Guide to the CMMC (Pilot) Joint Surveillance Program
Compliance
Bryan Crosson
What CMMC can and should learn from FedRAMP

In our role as NIST 800 series and Risk Management Framework (RMF) subject matter experts, we’ve worked closely with both third-party assessment organizations (3PAO) and companies at different points of the packaging process for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization.

What CMMC can and should learn from FedRAMP

IT

The 3 Root Causes of Small Business Data Breaches

The 3 Root Causes of Small Business Data Breaches

In 2016, the Ponemon Institute completed a study on the “State of Cybersecurity in Small & Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB).” The study had many interesting findings, with highlights including:

  • 55% of small & medium business suffered a cyber-attack in the past 12 months
  • 50 % reported data breaches involving customer & employee information in the last 12 months
  • 3 out of 4 reported that exploits have evaded their anti-virus solutions

The results align with what we see every day with clients that call us for incident response and recovery services:

The Best Laptop for Small Business Professionals

The Best Laptop for Small Business Professionals

Shopping for a laptop can be overwhelming. There are Chromebooks, Ultrabooks, 2 in 1s, tablets that act like laptops, laptops that act like tablets, and more! There are 5+ generations of processors made by multiple companies with different variations, sub variations and graphics cards. You must choose from a HDD, SSD or SSHD hybrid, decide how much RAM and of what type, and pick from a selection of wireless LAN cards that might as well be written in Latin. All together, we calculated an average of 23 separate decisions required when purchasing a laptop.

While the 23 decision points are important to the sophisticated technical decision maker, they can be debilitating to a small business owner that doesn’t know computers. That’s where we come in. We have simplified the process by reviewing and recommending one, and only one, laptop for the small business professional.

8 Simple Things Small Businesses Can Do to Drastically Improve Cybersecurity

8 Simple Things Small Businesses Can Do to Drastically Improve Cybersecurity

There simply isn't enough time in a day for most small businesses to run their core business, let alone protect themselves from hackers. For that reason, we put together this list of 8 simple tips, that aren't overly time consuming to implement and give small business owners the return on their time from a security standpoint.