Katie Arrington, special assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition for cyber, said the Department of Defense’s new cybersecurity certification model seeks to help small businesses comply with cyber controls through a tiered rating system depending on the platforms they are asked to protect, Fifth Domain reported Tuesday.
Arrington stated that the new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification seeks to strengthen the security of small businesses, which are being targeted by nation state-backed cyber attacks, and level the playing field when it comes to cybersecurity.
In September, the Pentagon issued a draft version of CMMC, which establishes cyber practices and standards meant to help the defense industrial base reduce exfiltration of controlled unclassified information.
The draft CMMC v0.4 has five levels ranging from basic cyber hygiene to highly advanced practices and each level has specific practices and activities that need to be implemented by stakeholders to achieve a capability.
