February 1, 2024 at 10:09AM
The Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is a significant nudge for companies in the defense industrial base and critical infrastructure to enhance cybersecurity. However, achieving CMMC compliance alone may not safeguard against sophisticated threats such as China’s PLA Unit 61398. To truly protect against cyber threats, companies must adopt a Harden-Detect-Respond (HDR) operational mindset and capabilities. This involves proactive identification and mitigation of weaknesses, continuous monitoring, and rapid incident response. Additionally, implementing seven critical HDR practices including security awareness training, vulnerability scanning, endpoint protection, and threat hunting, is essential for building resilience against advanced cyber threats.
Key Takeaways from the Meeting Notes:
1. Nation-state threat actors actively target defense industrial base (DIB) and critical infrastructure companies, despite efforts by federal agencies to encourage better cybersecurity practices.
2. The Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) will soon be strictly enforced and aims to make companies in the DIB and critical infrastructure harder targets.
3. Achieving adherence to CMMC, aligned with NIST 800-171 at the “Advanced” certification level, is a significant step forward, but it does not guarantee safety from advanced threat adversaries like China’s PLA Unit 61398.
4. Moving to a proactive and continuous “Harden-Detect-Respond” (HDR) mindset and operational capability is necessary for true cyber threat protection and resilience in addition to CMMC/NIST 800-171 compliance.
5. Seven critical HDR practices were outlined to help companies achieve resiliency and protection from cyber threats, including hardening people, IT and cloud infrastructure, endpoints, increasing visibility, detection, hunting for threats, and 24×7 investigation and response.
6. Prioritizing HDR operations is essential for defense and critical infrastructure companies to effectively defend against advanced threats and meet compliance requirements.
These takeaways provide a clear understanding of the cybersecurity challenges facing defense and critical infrastructure companies and emphasize the importance of adopting an HDR mindset to address these threats effectively.