Getting Certified & Implementing Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
When you implement a standard or ISO you will have to get certified once you have met all the requirements or “rules” established in it. Therefore, you could spend days, weeks, or months implementing one, but without the recognition or proper certification, people won’t trust the simple words of “I have it”. This means that finding a company that is validated and can provide you with it is crucial in order to obtain the desired certification. However, this company should be more than an entity that provides a piece of paper.
Although it isn’t literally just paper. An organization or validated company that can provide certifications for ISOs and standards should also be able—or offer—to give support and assistance in implementing it. The duty or task of a company like us, ISO Pros, isn’t to just evaluate the business and determine if you meet the requirements of the normative.
It is important to give guidelines according to your specific needs in this matter, which is why our job is to support everything whenever you decide to implement one. In the case of CMMC, it gets a bit more complicated and our support is ten times more required. After all, this standard is new—released this year, 2020—, which means that most companies in need and obligated to implement it don’t know quite well the requirements and guidelines established in it.
Since CMMC follows and was created from over 5 different ISOs, it is difficult to understand all the aspects and elements involved in it. Therefore, our company can help you to get certified thanks to the support we will provide you.
Do the levels influence in the certification?
As you might have heard—or read—, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification consists of 5 levels in total. In the case of level 1, most companies already meet it and can get certified on it when contacting us as the validated company for it. However, at level 2, it is quite common for specific companies to work in the requirements and aspects of the company to implement all the security controls and meet every element.
From level 3 to 4, things are usually implemented in most companies regardless of the industry. Regarding the main question in this area, yes, the level does influence the certification you obtain. Unlike most ISO standards you are familiar with—if you have a company—, CMMC will get you a certification depending on your level.
If you meet level 1 only, this is how you will get certified. But the more you climb or go through them, the higher your certification will be or it will be completely different. In simpler words, getting certified depends on the level you are in at the moment or just fulfilled and met completely. Our company is already familiar with all levels since we have made sure to study them and prepare our experts and auditors to support the process of your company.
Now, how do you know you already meet some requirements? The good thing about cybersecurity is that it is quite precise despite all the security controls you have to fulfill and follow. The document established quite well and was very specific about the controls you need to follow. Therefore, it won’t be a problem to meet them if you put some effort into it.
Besides, our company knows the proper ways to implement all controls and make sure your business won’t misread the right direction of the requirements. As mentioned before, level 1 is usually met for most companies despite the industry they are in. After all, it is about passwords and simple antivirus software, which is quite basic and necessary for any business in order to protect information and devices.
From level 2 is when you will have to pay more attention to not only the security controls but also:
And this applies to the rest of the levels with just more additions to the elements you have to look after. It is quite hard to handle the entire procedure, but it is not impossible when you know how it works perfectly.
Can you start to implement it alone?
Something you must keep in mind is that everyone has access to ISOs and standards. Therefore, you can read and learn about CMMC without limits nor restrictions. This answers the question quite forward: yes, you can start to implement it in your business without problems.
However, being able to understand all the standards and know-how to meet the requirements will be the difficult part, and you might not be able to handle everything on your own. This is why companies reach out to validated companies or organizations like ours. They need to get certified but also, get support in order to follow and meet the rest of the standard.
We encourage people to start right away and read the standard themselves. After all, it is a good thing to be aware of everything on it and familiar with that you implement or not in your company. However, to obtain the desired results—at some point—you will reach out to us and we will be more than happy to provide you with the certification you deserve and support you with the rest.
For this, you can contact us and let us know your ISO needs. CMMC is a standard we are already familiar with and started to provide the official certification since June 2020, which was estimated for it. Therefore, don’t hesitate to start implementing and getting certified as soon as you meet the requirements of a level. In this way, you will be able to enjoy and obtain the benefits that come with it, starting with the main and simpler one: more security for your data and information.