K2 Consulting Solutions LLC

Today marks the birth of our nation, and adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, making our great nation 248 years old! As we come together to celebrate, remember to reflect on the shared values of freedom, democracy, and unity that our country was founded upon. Happy July 4th from K2 Consulting Solutions!

Today is a time to reflect and remember the sacrifices made by our service members for our freedoms. We don’t know them all, but we owe them all 🙏🏼🇺🇸

To be... or not to be... CUI and how do you know if you're dealing with it? If you have the DFARS 252.204-7019 clause in your contract AND can attest to the below 3 elements, then assume that you have CUI! #safeguarding #32CFRpart2002 #CMMC #CUI #cyberdefense #CCP

Some Friday 'Food for thought' for all my DIB Colleagues sitting on the fence, waiting to implement #CMMC. #Cybersecurity #CISO #NationalDefense #DIBSecurity #5Reasons K2 Consulting Solutions LLC

#CMMC day was an action packed day of getting "real" across a multitude of topics and discussions impacting our National DIB Security including CMMC, cybersecurity, policy, data regulatory Standards, governance, risk and the surrounding legal implications. While there were a slew of dynamic talk tracks, I was especially moved by the in-depth analysis prepared by J.C Dodson on DIB implications as it relates to foreign criminal actor capabilities and the liminal war strategies being encompassed today. I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to meet and catch up with Jacob Horne, Jason Sproesser, Victoria Yan Pillitteri, Katie Arrington and a few other thought leaders in person while here. Far too many rockstars and mentors to mention in this post but it is absolutely energizing to be surrounded by positive, like-minded peers who are equally as passionate about helping our DIB community and who believe that, “A rising tide lifts all boats".

Hot off the press 🔥

On April 11th, the process for reporting a Cyber incident is changing in the DIB. Here is a Memo that summarizes these changes with the highlights of the new DIB Cybersecurity Program.

Wishing you a blessed and joyful Easter!!!

For those of you doing business with the DoD that need to safeguard CUI, your password tool must be FEDRAMP Authorized (if its' cloud based) in addition to being FIPS 140-2 validated. "FIPS-140-2 validated" means the technology that you use to encrypt CUI in-transit or at-rest (including backups) has to come from this list of NIST-approved solutions in the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP). If your hardware/software is not on that list, then it is NOT a viable solution since it is not FIPS-validated.  <CMMC Reference> NIST 800-171a, Identification and Authentication L2-3.5.10 ~ Store and transmit only cryptographically-protected passwords. It's a 5 pointer ✅

The first step in preparing for a CMMC assessment is determining the scope of your assessment.  Where does your CUI/FCI live? Understanding the difference of categories of “in-scope” assets that will need to be included in your SSP,  CUI flow and network diagram and the supportive documentation it points to is critical to the success of your assessment.  Consider the people, processes and technology that handle FCI/CUI.  How small can you make your CUI/FCI boundary?  Always employ the principle of least privilege.