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CMMC auditors about to wrap up training

Highly anticipated audits related to the Pentagon’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification process are inching closer, with auditors assigned to evaluate companies expected to complete their training by the end of September, according to the official spearheading the initiative.

Industry has been waiting with bated breath for the audits as part of CMMC implementation, which is meant to protect defense industrial base networks and controlled unclassified information from cyberattacks. Contractors will be required to meet different levels of security — Level 1 being the lightest and Level 5 the most stringent — depending on the type of work they are performing. The new rules will require contractors to be certified by third-party auditors to ensure that companies are adhering to certain standards.

Katie Arrington, chief information security officer in the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and the Defense Department’s point person on CMMC, said training for the first batch of auditors began Aug. 31.

“We’ll be starting to get some provisional assessors out into the marketplace very soon,” she said Sept. 2 during the Department of the Navy Gold Coast Small Business Procurement Event. The webinar was hosted by the San Diego Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association. “Within a couple of weeks, we should have some capability out in the environment.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/9/2/cmmc-auditors-about-to-wrap-up-training

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Changes to the CMMC Advisory Board as Congress turns up scrutiny of cyber standards

Less than two months after the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) advisory board became official, there’s already changes afoot.

Two original members of the advisory board have recently left.  John Weiler, CEO of the IT Acquisition Advisory Committee (IT-ACC), and Jim Goepel, the CEO and general counsel for Fathom Cyber LLC, are no longer listed on the main board of directors section.

Goepel left for personal reasons, while Weiler decided to work with the CMMC AB in a new way.

The change comes as the Senate and House armed services committee members turn up the heat on the CMMC by adding nine  provisions — six from the Senate — in the fiscal 2021 Defense authorization bill.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/08/changes-to-the-cmmc-advisory-board-as-congress-turns-up-scrutiny-of-cyber-standards/

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Frictionless acquisition means changing hearts and minds, not necessarily processes

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy’s new cross-agency priority goal isn’t about changing the acquisition rules or processes.

Instead, the goal of frictionless acquisition is about how contracting officers, program managers, industry and so many others view what it takes to buy a product or service.

Michael Wooten, the administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, said frictionless acquisition is part of his plan to reduce complexity through leadership.

“We are really focused on reducing the time between when a person conjures up a need and when they get what they want,” Wooten said in an exclusive interview with Federal News Network. “We think the opportunities for friction are significant because of the scale and scope of the federal acquisition system, the complexity of our requirements can be mind boggling when you look at some of the systems under development, whether it’s the Defense or Energy departments or whomever, and then the myriad systems and processes that support this.”

As a result of this friction, Wooten said agencies, contractors and taxpayers are feeling the brunt through increased costs, increased time to market and decreased value.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/acquisition-policy/2020/07/frictionless-acquisition-means-changing-hearts-and-minds-not-necessarily-processes/

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Pentagon expects 7,500 companies CMMC certified by 2021

The Defense Department anticipates that by next year 7,500 companies in its industrial base will hold certifications that they meet new cybersecurity requirements.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification version 1.0 requirements are part of the Pentagon’s push to protect industrial base networks and controlled unclassified information from cyber attacks. The CMMC rules will require contractors to be certified by third-party auditors, which will ensure that contractors are adhering to certain standards. Organizations will be required to meet different levels of security requirements depending on the type of work they are doing, with level 1 being the least burdensome and level 5 the most stringent.

An “estimated 7,500 companies will be certified in 2021,” Katie Arrington, chief information security officer in the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said during a webinar hosted by cybersecurity company Celeruim “That doesn’t seem like a lot but if you think about the interconnectivity of the [defense industrial base] it’s a certification that’s good for all DoD contracts for three years.”

By 2026, all solicitations are expected to include CMMC standards that companies must meet if they want to do business with the Pentagon.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/7/23/pentagon-expects-7500-companies-cmmc-certified-by-2021

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The absurdity of government contracting

It is time for a top-to-bottom review of the acquisition process.

I take no joy in writing this article, but it is a desperate plea for improvement.

From 1995-2001, I worked for the Department of the Army as a contract specialist procuring advanced communications and electronics systems, equipment and services.

The first contract I ever negotiated was valued at over $3 million opposite an emerging company from Massachusetts. I had just finished my four-week Contracts 101 training in Virginia, and I was eager to put my newfound knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), and Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (AFARS) to work on behalf of the Army and the American taxpayer. Then reality set in. Despite being armed with this new knowledge and skill, I was hamstrung by a procurement system so vast, complex and rigid it would make Kafka blush.

Throughout the course of my next seven years with the Army, we were promised acquisition reform, enhanced efficiencies, paperless transactions and less red tape, particularly in connection with the procurement of commercial items and services.

Since leaving the Army, I have focused my practice primarily on commercial contracts in a variety of industries, ranging from media and entertainment to digital advertising and technology. Increasingly, however, I have been handling more government contracting issues for our clients, including negotiating contracts for prime and subcontractors and handling diligence and regulatory issues in connection with mergers and acquisitions. It never ceases to amaze and disappoint me how different these commercial contracts are to federal contracts. The commercial process is still so much faster and efficient; the contracts are generally much shorter and less complex; and the parties are able to navigate contentious issues through negotiations rather than having to abide by a panoply of opaque and largely wasteful regulations.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.afcea.org/content/absurdity-government-contracting

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