Government's New DFARS 7012 Cybersecurity Details Will Catch Many Off Guard

WASHINGTON, June 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) has released the highly anticipated final version of Special Publication 800-171A, providing tangible guidance and instructions for defense contractors struggling to comply with DFARS 252.204-7012, a cybersecurity clause now incorporated into every Defense Department contract.

While providing guidelines for how to assess compliance, the document still presents interpretation challenges for many medium-sized and smaller companies, especially those who have based their previous compliance efforts on other approaches. "800-171A is designed as 'one-size-fits-all' guidance," said Timothy Williams, Technical Director of eResilience, a new division of Referentia Systems focused on assisting the defense community with cybersecurity and compliance solutions. "Each company has to interpret the questions for their own particular environment, and that can easily lead them astray."

To better understand the needs of the defense contractor community, the Cyber Collaboration Center surveyed over 500 defense contractors and local military association chapters. They found most organizations with more than 50 employees were aware of the DFARS cybersecurity rules and many were in progress trying to become compliant – some of them believing themselves to already be 100% compliant – but because government-issued regulations have been vague, most are not sure if their systems could pass a Governmental review if required.

Because many companies need help understanding and performing thorough NIST 800-171A assessments, which include more than 300 tests that must be passed to demonstrate compliance, the Cyber Collaboration Center and eResilience are teaming to produce a live webinar focused on the basic procedures for performing a streamlined NIST 800-181A assessment, including how to understand the guidance, perform the assessment, and efficiently collect and manage the evidentiary documentation needed to demonstrate compliance. The no-cost webinar is to be held on July 18^th, 2018, and attendees will receive limited access to an online tool from eResilience to help automate and streamline the 800-171A assessment process. More information and registration is available at www.cybercollaborationcenter.org.

About eResilience (www.eresilience.com):  eResilience is a new division of Referentia Systems, a National Security Agency (NSA) Trusted Integrator, focused on commercial cybersecurity solutions and risk management, which includes the defense contractor / Defense Industrial Base (DIB) market segment.  For DIB clients, eResilience helps defense contractors accelerate the process of meeting all 110+ DFARS 7012 requirements, and provides situational awareness of supply-chain compliance using automated tools and technologies.

About Cyber Collaboration Center (www.cybercollaborationcenter.org):  CCC is a non-profit organization established in 2011 to enable security experts from government, academia, and industry to collaborate on critical cybersecurity concerns threatening our nation's networks and IT modernization.

Contact:  Larry Lieberman
[email protected] / (808) 840-8580

SOURCE eResilience

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