Preparing for NIST Compliance and CMMC Compliance: Steps and Standards
As a prominent manufacturing partner for the Aerospace and Defense industry, Prospect Group has constantly upheld extremely rigorous standards for quality, reliability, and safety. One of the ways that we do that is through our compliance with NIST regulations.
NIST SP 800-171 is a framework for cybersecurity measures required by anyone working in the Defense industry, either directly or indirectly. These measures were put in place to protect Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) being shared and stored between the DoD and any contractors working with them.
Introducing CMMC: The Improvement on NIST Compliance
While NIST regulations were, and still are, crucial for cybersecurity across Defense manufacturing, they were historically a self-audited type of process. Each company and manufacturer performed their own internal audits rather than having a third-party audit their compliance with NIST.
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) changes that. While it does not introduce any new requirements for cybersecurity, it essentially takes the NIST SP 800-171 framework and provides manufacturers with a way to move from compliance to an actual, proven certification. CMMC requires that most contractors working within the Defense markets undergo an assessment completed by an independent, trained, and certified third party auditor in order to ensure their compliance with NIST regulations. The goal of this new certification is to improve cybersecurity across the board Defense contractors, as well as all levels of their supply chains.
Preparing for CMMC Compliance
CMMC is a framework that has been in the works, and has just recently been fully approved and implemented right at the end of 2024. We are proud to serve our nation’s defenders and take every step to ensure that we provide reliable and safe manufacturing services to our partners in Defense manufacturing.