As time marches on and technology develops, there’s a constant push and pull between information security and attempts to breach that security. Obscurity – simply hiding from sight – isn’t enough with automated processes capable of scanning any possible address looking for signs of life, so much of modern computer security comes down to cryptography. Pretty much everyone has some experience with cryptography, from our childhood spy media to modern computer science.

In today’s digital age, destroying data is not as easy as it once was. Before the advent of computers, if you needed to destroy sensitive government information to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, all you often needed to do was light some papers on fire. With computers, you might think that it’s a simple matter. After all, if you’ve ever accidentally deleted a file or had a hard disk crash, you’ve probably lost data and haven’t been able to recover it.

If you are managing multiple GRC frameworks for multiple environments, then you know how powerful it is to have clearly-defined and repeatable work processes to enable teams to work together efficiently. To enable efficiency within the organization, Ignyte has launched common control provider capabilities within the platform for 100+ customers.

In the world of government contracting, information security is taken very seriously. There are a dozen different standards for security depending on who you are, what information you handle, and what department you’re working with. We’ve talked about many of them before, such as DFARS, FedRAMP, and CMMC, but there’s yet another to discuss. As you’ve guessed, if you’ve read the title, or as you know from seeing this post, we’re talking about FIPS.

When choosing to take up government contracts, most businesses face one of the common compliance frameworks for security. They need to climb the mountain to achieve compliance with a framework like CMMC, FedRAMP, or maybe something like HIPAA if they’re in the healthcare space. Relatively few need to comply with a more esoteric – and higher-intensity – framework known as ITAR. What is ITAR, and what do you need to know if you’re a business that needs to use it? Let’s dig in.

Navigating Authority to Operate: FISMA or FedRAMP? Decades ago, the government stood on its own. While it would often contract out with individuals and companies for services, there was always a barrier between third-party operations and government operations to prevent intrusion, infiltration, or compromise. Over the years, though, society has grown more and more complex.

Cybersecurity is a vast and complex field, and it’s made more complicated as technology – both infrastructure and in terms of cyberattacks – grows more and more sophisticated. Any large and complex industry grows terminology and jargon like leaves on a tree, and cybersecurity is no different. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of specialized terms that are used in narrow and specific ways throughout the industry.

The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, better known as DFARS, has significance for contractors working with the Department of Defense (DoD). Our intention is to offer a comprehensive perspective on DFARS in the context of cybersecurity, its various clauses, and the intricacies of maintaining compliance as these rules constantly shift and change over time.

We’ve talked a lot about FedRAMP, CMMC, and the typical business/contractor security controls outlined in NIST SP 800-171, but these aren’t the only elements of cybersecurity that the government wants enforced. There are also the DISA STIGS to follow. What are they, do they apply to you, and how can you follow them?

The 60-day comment period begins for the new proposed CMMC rule published in the Federal Register. The Department of Defense’s CMMC program office has broken its silence for the long awaited publishing of its new Proposed CMMC Rule on December 26th in the Federal Register.