Four cybersecurity challenges SIs face in the development stage for compliance.

Amidst the mounting frequency of cyberattacks and hacking, the Federal government is relentlessly pursuing approaches that harden their systems and thwart attacks. In efforts to ensure our supply chains and cybersecurity, the government tactics require system integrators to meet security standards internally and as with the software, security services and APIs they provide. Therefore, earning your Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is essential if you want to work for the government.

The International Association for Contract and Commercial Management (IACCM) has revealed that non-compliance gaps amount to nearly 40% of total obligations. There are four key areas Sis should focus on to meet all the necessary mandates and minimize compliance risk while developing a compliant security posture while working with the government. 

 1: Establishing a secure baseline

CMMC, CIS, or STIG compliance, are based on NIST 800-171 standards. The idea is to standardize security controls and ensuring they are met so all parties—government and contractors alike—are securely aligned, a unified front.

The hardeing process means going through each control, one by one, in every application across your system and ensure that it meets standards so the system can gain authority to operate (ATO). If certain checklist items and controls don’t meet standards, then you remediate that endpoint until it does. If it sounds like a massive, laborious process that you’ll have a hard time hiring extra staff to complete and maintain, that’s because it is.

There is a proven tactic that 8 of the Top 10 system integrators use to save time, money, and effort on cybersecurity hardening projects: automation from SteelCloud. Our ConfigOS enables you to complete the hardening process 90% faster with the staff you currently have on hand.

 2: Risk management  

Risk management and compliance go hand in hand. You establish a secure baseline to manage risk, yes. But the government’s Risk Management Framework (RMF) also means maintaining that secure baseline  continuously monitoring the system for changes and combating system drift.

For SIs, this process becomes more difficult when you are called to work on a system that has already been created/completed. Mapping the configuration against standards is another laborious manual process. And networks naturally change all the time, so it’s essential for the IT security team to know if any of the changes have impacted the organization’s security posture.  The ability to monitor systems for continued adherence to a standard is equally important.

Again, automation can make short work of everything from mapping systems to earning RMF Accreditation. Once SteelCloud’s ConfigOS establishes a secure baseline, it never stops working to keep it that way—with minimal manual intervention.

3: Complexity

Getting a system’s configuration can be easier said than done, however.  While there are many tools out there to collect a system’s configurations, you’ll find that many tools are agent-based, meaning they rely on agents deployed on endpoints to collect the data.

That means you must go through the pain of deploying agents on systems.  Additionally, agent-based solutions will do nothing for systems where you can’t deploy agents, such as in medical devices, switches, routers, firewalls, etc. To monitor those systems, you’ll need an agentless approach, such as automation.

4: eMASS

eMASS is a government-run database that congregates your machine and manual cybersecurity data a holistic view of your total effort and for more effective protection against attacks. Once again, automation (and specifically SteelCloud’s ConfigOS) makes a time-consumingly impossible job possible by:

• Reducing the effort/errors in merging non-technical CKL data with machine-generated technical data
• Simplifying the production and input of compliance data into eMASS
• Reducing the effort to produce, name, and store fully populated STIG Viewer Checklist in bulk (by the 1,000s)
• Providing complete CKL data to SIEMdata feeds so that all of the compliance data is easily accessible through integrated enterprise dashboards

If a tool is going to translate your configuration data into valuable compliance data, it needs to have an internal database of the STIGs, as ConfigOS does. That means the tool must know what the STIGs are expecting to map the actual configuration accordingly. So, if you want to automate the STIG checks, look for a tool with an extensive database of STIGs that covers as many of your systems as possible.

Automation is an essential tool for SIs moving forward

The job of the SI gets more complex with each passing year. On the one hand, there is plenty of work to be done with agencies and organizations migrating to the cloud. On the other, the competition for these customers is developing quickly.

Automation can put you on par with the top SIs when competing for government contracts. It can help create a more secure enterprise for yourself and your clients. And it can significantly simplify your processes so you can focus on your core mission.

The companies that win the most contracts are the ones that can demonstrate superior speed, innovation, differentiation, and cost-effectiveness. Ensure the back end of your business is secure with enough infrastructure, automation, and support to ensure you can deliver on your promises to customers. Request a demo of ConfigOS today.