Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

Governmental cybersecurity is largely focused on federal government agencies. When we talk about FedRAMP, CMMC, DFARS, and other security standards, it’s almost always with an eye toward the governmental agencies and departments that comprise the federal government and the contractors and suppliers that work with them. For private businesses and non-governmental partners, ISO 27001 provides a great security framework. What about the middle ground, though?

Government cybersecurity and information security frameworks are a constant work in progress. Many different frameworks draw their requirements from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and one of the most important documents for cybersecurity is NIST Special Publication 800-171: Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations.

Every year that goes by shows an improvement in technology, often by leaps and bounds over previous technology. What used to be the realm of far-off science fiction so unbelievably exotic that it defined genres is now a commonplace reality. With new technology comes new threats. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in digital threats, from the SolarWinds supply line attack, to the compromised Outlook services, to the currently-ongoing Salt Typhoon attack on telecom companies.

Throughout this blog, we often write about both FedRAMP and CMMC as cybersecurity frameworks applied to the federal government and its contractors. These frameworks share a lot of the same DNA stemming from the same resources, and they share the same goal of making the federal government more secure. One significant question you may have, though, is one of practicality. Do CMMC and FedRAMP have reciprocity?

To say that the actions of the Trump administration are having an impact on cybersecurity is an understatement. Executive orders are an important and useful tool that have been used by many presidents for the good of the country – and sometimes for other ends – and some recent executive orders have been aimed at establishing and improving the cybersecurity of the country. Meanwhile, others have, to put it lightly, the opposite impact.

When it comes to overall productivity platforms, collaboration tools, and office suites, the two biggest options dominating the market are the Google G Suite and Microsoft’s Office ecosystem. Whether it’s word processing, team collaboration, IT frameworks, device management, or the entire infrastructure of a business, there’s a pretty good chance one of these two options is going to power the way you operate.

A lot goes into protecting the information security of the nation. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, maintains a list of security controls under the banner of NIST SP 800-53, Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations. Meanwhile, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, or FedRAMP, sets up a framework that makes those security controls apply to governmental agencies and the third-party cloud service providers that work with them.

FedRAMP is a key part of maintaining the digital security of the federal government, by way of enforcing security rules across departments and the cloud service providers that work with them. Any CSP that wishes to work with a federal agency or department and handle controlled information needs to obtain an authority to operate (ATO) from the program management office. Part of that ATO is the continuous monitoring of the CSP’s systems to ensure ongoing security in a changing world.

Security isn’t something you implement once and leave alone. It’s a mindset, an operation, and an ongoing policy. Security frameworks like FedRAMP require a process called continuous monitoring in order to remain valid. The world of information threats is constantly evolving. Technology grows, changes, and improves, but with those changes come new vectors for intrusion, new methods for unauthorized access, and new exploits.

The full compliance process for CMMC, the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, culminates in an audit that validates an organization’s cybersecurity posture and its implementation of the security controls that apply to it. Throughout this process, there is a gatekeeper who performs your audit. You may have heard of them referred to as a CMMC Auditor or a CMMC Assessor. With these two terms in play, you may be wondering what the difference is between them.