Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

At HCRS, one service we offer is preparing and guiding DoD suppliers seeking to get certified and stay compliant with the CMMC. We have been working with a variety of governmental bodies for over 20 years, and we have the experience to help businesses small and large navigate working with the government.

If your business needs help getting ready for the CMMC certification, don’t get confused by industry lingo, IT talk or multiple maturity levels. HCRS will give it to you straight — from one small business contractor to another.

What Is the CMMC Certification?

Companies that want to work with the U.S. DoD will need to meet the CMMC requirements to bid on contracts. The first version was released in January of 2020, while CMMC 2.0 and its updates were made available in November of 2021. This unified standard ensures all contractors are up to the task of executing cybersecurity across the defense industrial base (DIB).

In years past, companies working for the DoD were responsible for their own security technology, as well as sensitive DoD information that happened to be stored or transmitted on their systems. However, this arrangement sometimes resulted in serious compromises and information leaks. Thus, CMMC now requires self-, third-party, or government assessments based on the level of compliance and critical nature of data being shared (see below). These assessments ensure:

• Compliance with mandatory practices and procedures.
• Adequate cybersecurity capabilities.
• The ability to adapt to new and evolving cyber threats.

The CMMC Framework

The CMMC has three established certification levels. Each level builds upon the one before to reflect the maturity and reliability of a company’s cybersecurity infrastructure. These technical requirements ensure a company can safeguard sensitive DoD information stored or transmitted on the contractors’ system. For your company to be considered compliant, you must meet each level’s requirements and implement specific cybersecurity-based practices.

• Level 1: Foundational. Requires contractors to meet 17 cybersecurity practices, and to conduct annual self-assessments.
• Level 2: Advanced. Requires 110 practices aligned with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publications 800-171, along with annual self-assessments for select programs, or triennial third-party assessments for critical national security information.
• Level 3: Expert. Requires 110 or more practices aligned with NIST SP 800-172, as well as triennial government-led assessments.

Who Must Comply With the CMMC?

The CMMC certification will eventually be required by any DoD contractors or companies doing business with the U.S. government in any capacity. This includes:

• All suppliers.
• Small businesses.
• Commercial item contractors.
• Foreign suppliers.

Get Ready for CMMC

Let us guide you through the CMMC framework and get your team ready for the certification process. As a Registered Provider Organization (RPO), HCRS is not an auditing company, and we do not grant certification. Rather, our goal is to prepare you for meeting the requirements and compliance of each maturity level. 

Decades of Industry Knowledge

• Understand the requirements and successfully prepare for the CMMC Assessment.
• Develop and implement an ongoing budget by vetting vendors and products.
• Provide oversight for the execution and maintenance of CMMC controls and practices.
• Identify key deliverables and what auditors will expect.
• Implement business process improvement with your IT so that everyone is on the same page.