Chris Rose
Defense Contractors and The Cloud: Which ...

In the age of CMMC and pending independent third-party assessments of defense contractors’ compliance with their contractual cybersecurity obligations, there is a lot of misinformation out there about which Microsoft 365 environment meets your regulatory compliant needs. As a Microsoft Direct CSP and Azure Government CSP partner, we (Ariento) figured we’d address the most frequent questions our team receives when working with clients on their government cyber compliance journey. Note: a lot of this evaluation can be applied to other public cloud service providers (e.g. Google, Zoom, Google, Amazon, etc.) as well.

Defense Contractors and The Cloud: Which version of Microsoft 365 is right for you?
Bryan Crosson
DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to ...

On April 27, 2022, Aerojet Rocketdyne agreed to pay roughly $9 million to settle a False Claims Act complaint relating to overstated levels of cybersecurity compliance and controls. The case is significant because it is the first time that a whistleblower has successfully used the False Claims Act to hold a defense contractor accountable for cybersecurity fraud. The case also sets an important precedent for future whistleblowers who are trying to hold defense contractors accountable for cybersecurity violations.

DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to Defense Contractors
Compliance
Chris Rose
An FAQ Guide to the CMMC (Pilot) Joint ...

With news that the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) implementation is being pushed back (again) to 2024, the CMMC pilot program (called Joint Surveillance) becomes ever more important as it is the only option for organizations that desire to be a first mover in receiving their CMMC certification. At last check, there have been a total of seven completed assessments under the pilot program, and while that may seem low, interest is clearly high as our CMMC Third Party Assessor Organization (C3PAO) teams continue to receive questions about the program from Organizations Seeking Certification (OSC). This blog post addresses the most common questions we have seen.

An FAQ Guide to the CMMC (Pilot) Joint Surveillance Program
Compliance
Bryan Crosson
What CMMC can and should learn from FedRAMP

In our role as NIST 800 series and Risk Management Framework (RMF) subject matter experts, we’ve worked closely with both third-party assessment organizations (3PAO) and companies at different points of the packaging process for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization.

What CMMC can and should learn from FedRAMP
Compliance
Chris Rose
CMMC – The Cyber Compliance Standard We’ve Been ...

Is the DoD’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) the future, or just another compliance initiative in the long line of competing cyber standards across a fragmented landscape. One thing is certain, this is a different approach.

CMMC – The Cyber Compliance Standard We’ve Been Waiting For?

Defense Contractors and The Cloud: Which version of Microsoft 365 is right for you?

Defense Contractors and The Cloud: Which version of Microsoft 365 is right for you?

In the age of CMMC and pending independent third-party assessments of defense contractors’ compliance with their contractual cybersecurity obligations, there is a lot of misinformation out there about which Microsoft 365 environment meets your regulatory compliant needs. As a Microsoft Direct CSP and Azure Government CSP partner, we (Ariento) figured we’d address the most frequent questions our team receives when working with clients on their government cyber compliance journey. Note: a lot of this evaluation can be applied to other public cloud service providers (e.g. Google, Zoom, Google, Amazon, etc.) as well.

CMMC Timeline Update: DoD Submits CMMC Program to Office of Management and Budget for Review

CMMC Timeline Update: DoD Submits CMMC Program to Office of Management and Budget for Review

On July 24th, the Department of Defense submitted the Cybersecurity Model Maturity Certification (CMMC) Program to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. So, what exactly does this mean for Defense contractors and when would a CMMC certification requirement start to show up in contracts solicitations?

DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to Defense Contractors

DOJ’s False Claims Act and why it matters to Defense Contractors

On April 27, 2022, Aerojet Rocketdyne agreed to pay roughly $9 million to settle a False Claims Act complaint relating to overstated levels of cybersecurity compliance and controls. The case is significant because it is the first time that a whistleblower has successfully used the False Claims Act to hold a defense contractor accountable for cybersecurity fraud. The case also sets an important precedent for future whistleblowers who are trying to hold defense contractors accountable for cybersecurity violations.

An FAQ Guide to the CMMC (Pilot) Joint Surveillance Program

An FAQ Guide to the CMMC (Pilot) Joint Surveillance Program

With news that the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) implementation is being pushed back (again) to 2024, the CMMC pilot program (called Joint Surveillance) becomes ever more important as it is the only option for organizations that desire to be a first mover in receiving their CMMC certification. At last check, there have been a total of seven completed assessments under the pilot program, and while that may seem low, interest is clearly high as our CMMC Third Party Assessor Organization (C3PAO) teams continue to receive questions about the program from Organizations Seeking Certification (OSC). This blog post addresses the most common questions we have seen.

What CMMC can and should learn from FedRAMP

What CMMC can and should learn from FedRAMP

In our role as NIST 800 series and Risk Management Framework (RMF) subject matter experts, we’ve worked closely with both third-party assessment organizations (3PAO) and companies at different points of the packaging process for Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) authorization.

CMMC – The Cyber Compliance Standard We’ve Been Waiting For?

CMMC – The Cyber Compliance Standard We’ve Been Waiting For?

Is the DoD’s new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) the future, or just another compliance initiative in the long line of competing cyber standards across a fragmented landscape. One thing is certain, this is a different approach.

CCH Cloud Systems Outage

CCH Cloud Systems Outage

Given our status as an affinity partner of CalCPA providing services to many CPA clients, we’ve had quite a few people reach out today with concerns about CCH cloud systems being down and the lack of communication from Wolters Kluwer. While there isn’t much, here is what we do know:

Why Military Veterans Are Well-Suited to Solve Our Economy’s Biggest Problem

Why Military Veterans Are Well-Suited to Solve Our Economy’s Biggest Problem

The American economy is in jeopardy, and most people don’t even know it. Small businesses account for 99% of all U.S. businesses. They employ 60% of Americans and are responsible for more than half of the United States gross domestic product (GDP). In 2015, 62% of all data breaches were of small to medium sized businesses per Symantec, and 60% of those businesses were forced to close their doors within 6 months of being attacked. These statistics are scary, and indicate we are one major cyber-attack away from an economic crisis. So how do we fix this?

The Myth of WannaCry (and all ransomware)

The Myth of WannaCry (and all ransomware)

A lot has been written about the WannaCry ransomware attack that spread through the globe beginning on May 12 of this year. Perhaps due to the clever branding of the malware, the reaction to WannaCry has been remarkable. Companies from help desk ticketing vendors to log management software developers have personally called me attempting to sell me their product or service on the basis of its ability to stop ransomware like WannaCry. I can only assume that these sales teams, armed with scripts and little actual knowledge of WannaCry or ransomware in general, have been effective in executing this scare tactic approach, otherwise I wouldn’t keep seeing it. Time to set the record straight.