An Introduction to CMMC Assessment Guides

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 1.0 for Defense Industrial Base (DIB) suppliers defines specific cybersecurity practices across five levels of maturity while also measuring the degree to which those practices are institutionalized within an organization. The CMMC model draws on maturity processes and cybersecurity best practices from multiple standards, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks and references, as well as input from DIB entities and the Department of Defense. CMMC requires that DIB organizations complete an assessment of all CMMC practices at a particular level and become certified by a CMMC third-party assessment organization. When fully implemented, CMMC will require all DIB companies to achieve certification at one of the five CMMC levels, which includes both technical security practices and maturity processes. In this SEI Podcast, Andrew Hoover and Katie Stewart, researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute and architects of the model, discuss the CMMC assessment guides, how they were developed, and how they can be used.