Appalachia Blog - kn

The Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 is based on the 110 security practices from NIST SP 800-171 rev 2. These practices are designed to protect controlled unclassified information (CUI) within the defense supply chain. For most DoD contractors, achieving CMMC Level 2 compliance is now mandatory, but the process is challenging. Organizations must navigate evolving requirements, implement technical controls, manage costs, train their workforce, and prepare for stringent audits. Here’s an overview of the top challenges contractors face along with the best practices for overcoming them.

In my 25+ year cyber security career, I have watched the demand for compliance auditing grow.  In a world where the need to carry cash is diminishing, the need for securing digital data, such as credit cards, is vital.  How do businesses go about protecting their clients’ credit data?  More importantly, how do we as customers know that our credit card data is being protected?  The answer is PCI.

In late February, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) released the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0, a considerable update since its creation in 2014.  To help our cybersecurity community and businesses digest the changes, Mike Miller and a team from Appalachia Technologies recently held a lunch and learn webinar.  The webinar provided a mixture of voices and perspectives.  After the event, we asked each member of the panel for their thoughts on what’s most important about NIST CSF 2.0 and the discussions that came from the webinar.