§170.2. Incorporation by reference. — Inbound Citations

(c) The CMMC Program is designed to ensure defense contractors are properly safeguarding FCI and CUI that is processed, stored, or transmitted on defense contractor information systems. FCI and CUI must be protected to meet evolving threats and safeguard nonpublic, unclassified information that supports and enables the warfighter. The CMMC Program provides a consistent methodology to assess a defense contractor's implementation of required cybersecurity requirements. The CMMC Program utilizes the security standards set forth in the 48 CFR 52.204-21; National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems, Revision 2, February 2020 (includes updates as of January 28, 2021) (NIST SP 800-171 R2); and selected requirements from the NIST SP 800-172, Enhanced Security Requirements for Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information: A Supplement to NIST Special Publication 800-171, February 2021 (NIST SP 800-172 Feb2021), as applicable (see table 1 to § 170.14(c)(4) for requirements, see § 170.2 for availability of NIST publications).

(a) The CAICO is responsible for training, testing, authorizing, certifying, and recertifying CMMC assessors, instructors, and related professionals. Only the CAICO may make decisions relating to examination certifications, including the granting, maintaining, recertifying, expanding, and reducing the scope of certification, and suspending or withdrawing certification in accordance with current ISO/IEC 17024:2012(E) (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2). At any given point in time, there will be only one CAICO for the DoD CMMC Program.

(a) CCAs, in support of a C3PAO, conduct Level 2 certification assessments of OSCs in accordance with NIST SP 800-171A Jun2018 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2), the assessment processes defined in § 170.17, and the scoping requirements defined in § 170.19(c). CCAs must meet all of the requirements set forth in paragraph (b) of this section. A CCA may conduct Level 2 certification assessments and participate on a C3PAO Assessment Team.

(2) NIST SP 800-171 R2, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2); and

(i) The Level 1 self-assessment must be performed using the objectives defined in NIST SP 800-171A Jun2018 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) for the security requirement that maps to the CMMC Level 1 security requirement as specified in table 1 to paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section. In any case where an objective addresses CUI, FCI should be substituted for CUI in the objective.

(1) The OSA must conduct a Level 2 self-assessment in accordance with NIST SP 800-171A Jun2018 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) and the CMMC Level 2 scoping requirements set forth in §§ 170.19(a) and (c) for the information systems within the CMMC Assessment Scope. The Level 2 self-assessment must be scored in accordance with the CMMC Scoring Methodology described in § 170.24 and the OSA must upload the results into SPRS. If a POA&M exists, a POA&M closeout self-assessment must be performed by the OSA when all NOT MET requirements have been remediated. The POA&M closeout self-assessment must be performed within 180-days of the Conditional CMMC Status Date. Additional guidance can be found in the guidance document listed in paragraph (c) of appendix A to this part.

(1) An authorized or accredited C3PAO must perform a Level 2 certification assessment in accordance with NIST SP 800-171A Jun2018 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) and the CMMC Level 2 scoping requirements set forth in § 170.19(a) and (c) for the information systems within the CMMC Assessment Scope. The Level 2 certification assessment must be scored in accordance with the CMMC Scoring Methodology described in § 170.24 and the C3PAO must upload the results into the CMMC instantiation of eMASS. Final results are communicated to the OSC through a CMMC Assessment Findings Report.

(iii) DCMA DIBCAC will perform a Level 3 certification assessment in accordance with NIST SP 800-171A Jun2018 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) and NIST SP 800-172A Mar2022 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) and the CMMC Level 3 scoping requirements set forth in § 170.19(d) for the information systems within the CMMC Assessment Scope. The Level 3 certification assessment will be scored in accordance with the CMMC Scoring Methodology set forth in § 170.24 and DCMA DIBCAC will upload the results into the CMMC instantiation of eMASS. Final results are communicated to the OSC through a CMMC Assessment Findings Report. For assets that changed asset category (i.e., CRMA to CUI Asset) or assessment requirements (i.e., Specialized Assets) between the Level 2 and Level 3 certification assessments, DCMA DIBCAC will perform limited checks of Level 2 security requirements. If the OSC had these upgraded asset categories included in their Level 2 certification assessment, then DCMA DIBCAC may still perform limited checks for compliance. If DCMA DIBCAC identifies that a Level 2 security requirement is NOT MET, the Level 3 assessment process may be paused to allow for remediation, placed on hold, or immediately terminated.

(a) This scoring methodology is designed to provide a measurement of an OSA's implementation status of the NIST SP 800-171 R2 security requirements (incorporated by reference elsewhere in this part, see § 170.2) and the selected NIST SP 800-172 Feb2021 security requirements (incorporated by reference elsewhere in this part, see § 170.2). The CMMC Scoring Methodology is designed to credit partial implementation only in limited cases (e.g., multi-factor authentication IA.L2-3.5.3).

(b) Unless otherwise noted, these terms and their definitions are for the purposes of this part.

Access Control (AC) means the process of granting or denying specific requests to obtain and use information and related information processing services; and/or entry to specific physical facilities (e.g., Federal buildings, military establishments, or border crossing entrances), as defined in FIPS PUB 201-3 Jan2002 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2).

Accreditation means a status pursuant to which a CMMC Assessment and Certification Ecosystem member (person or organization), having met all criteria for the specific role they perform including required ISO/IEC accreditations, may act in that role as set forth in § 170.8 for the Accreditation Body and § 170.9 for C3PAOs. (CMMC-custom term)

Accreditation Body is defined in § 170.8 and means the one organization DoD contracts with to be responsible for authorizing and accrediting members of the CMMC Assessment and Certification Ecosystem, as required. The Accreditation Body must be approved by DoD. At any given point in time, there will be only one Accreditation Body for the DoD CMMC Program. (CMMC-custom term)

Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) means an adversary that possesses sophisticated levels of expertise and significant resources that allow it to create opportunities to achieve its objectives by using multiple attack vectors (e.g., cyber, physical, and deception). These objectives typically include establishing and extending footholds within the information technology infrastructure of the targeted organizations for purposes of exfiltrating information, undermining or impeding critical aspects of a mission, program, or organization; or positioning itself to carry out these objectives in the future. The advanced persistent threat pursues its objectives repeatedly over an extended period-of-time, adapts to defenders' efforts to resist it, and is determined to maintain the level of interaction needed to execute its objectives, as is defined in NIST SP 800-39 Mar2011 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2).

Affirming Official means the senior level representative from within each Organization Seeking Assessment (OSA) who is responsible for ensuring the OSA's compliance with the CMMC Program requirements and has the authority to affirm the OSA's continuing compliance with the specified security requirements for their respective organizations. (CMMC-custom term)

Assessment means the testing or evaluation of security controls to determine the extent to which the controls are implemented correctly, operating as intended, and producing the desired outcome with respect to meeting the security requirements for an information system or organization, as defined in §§ 170.15 through 170.18. (CMMC-custom term)

(a) Protection of FCI and CUI on contractor information systems is of paramount importance to the DoD and can directly impact its ability to successfully conduct essential missions and functions. It is DoD policy that defense contractors and subcontractors shall be required to safeguard FCI and CUI that is processed, stored, or transmitted on contractor information systems by applying specified security requirements. In addition, defense contractors and subcontractors may be required to implement additional safeguards defined in NIST SP 800-172 Feb2021 (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2), implementing DoD specified parameters to meet CMMC Level 3 security requirements (see table 1 to § 170.14(c)(4)). These additional requirements are necessary to protect CUI being processed, stored, or transmitted in contractor information systems, when designated by a requirement for CMMC Status of Level 3 (DIBCAC) as defined by a DoD program manager or requiring activity. In general, the Department will identify a requirement for a CMMC Status of Level 3 (DIBCAC) for solicitations and resulting contracts supporting its most critical programs and technologies.

(a) The Accreditation Body is responsible for authorizing and ensuring the accreditation of CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organizations (C3PAOs) in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020:2012(E) (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) and all applicable authorization and accreditation requirements set forth. The Accreditation Body is responsible for establishing the C3PAO authorization requirements and the C3PAO Accreditation Scheme and submitting both for approval by the CMMC PMO. At any given point in time, there will be only one Accreditation Body for the DoD CMMC Program.

(13) Implement a quality assurance function that ensures the accuracy and completeness of assessment data prior to upload into the CMMC instantiation of eMASS. Any individual fulfilling the quality assurance function must be a CCA and cannot be a member of an Assessment Team for which they are performing a quality assurance role. A quality assurance individual shall manage the C3PAO's quality assurance reviews as defined in paragraph (b)(14) of this section and the appeals process as required by paragraphs (b)(19) and (20) of this section and in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020:2012(E) (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2) and ISO/IEC 17011:2017(E) (incorporated by reference, see § 170.2).