Defense / Aerospace
CMMC Level 2 assessments are landing on the calendar and many subcontractors are still working through access control, audit and accountability, and FIPS-validated cryptography that turns out not to be validated as configured. Cynaxus is not a CMMC certification body; we help organizations align to CMMC and NIST 800-171, remediate gaps, and stand up the GRC, TPRM, and identity programs that keep CUI environments ready for assessment.
Overview
CMMC Readiness for the DIB
The Pressure
CMMC has gone from a future requirement to a date on your calendar.
- The CMMC final rule (32 CFR Part 170) is now in DFARS contracts under clause 252.204-7012, and Level 2 assessments are landing on real schedules.
- Three NIST 800-171 control families drive most remediation cost across the DIB: AC (access control), AU (audit and accountability), and SC (system and communications protection).
- FIPS-validated cryptography (3.13.11) is the recurring trap — subcontractors discover late that their crypto is not validated as configured, a fix that takes months.
- Primes are flowing C-SCRM down through every tier under NIST SP 800-161r1, demanding evidence rather than attestation.
- State-aligned actors are running active supply-chain campaigns against defense contractors via VPN and edge-device exploitation — not a hypothetical.
The Gap
Self-assessed scores rarely survive contact with a real C3PAO.
- NIST 800-171 self-assessments have not been validated against actual assessor expectations or the DFARS interpretive guidance a C3PAO will use.
- CUI is co-mingled with corporate IT because true enclave separation was never funded, so identity environments cannot cleanly demonstrate separation at assessment.
- SSPs and POA&Ms are out of date and do not reflect the environment as built.
- Managed-service partners often do not grasp the difference between a flow-down obligation and a contract addendum.
- Supply-chain risk posture is documented at attestation level rather than the evidence level primes (and NIST SP 800-161r1) increasingly require.
How We Help
We align the program to the way the assessor will review it — then make it stick.
- Run CMMC readiness reviews and gap analyses aligned to the DoW assessment methodology your C3PAO will use, then fix gaps in priority order.
- Architect CUI enclaves that pass scrutiny and modernize cryptography to genuinely FIPS-validated configurations.
- Stand up Technology & Security Audit, GRC, and Third-Party Risk Management purpose-built for the DIB, with C-SCRM programs aligned to NIST SP 800-161r1 that primes will accept.
- Operate SOC and Identity Operations as managed services that hold corporate and CUI identity stores cleanly separate, with Backup & DR to the standard ransomware resilience now requires.
- Pre-position a Breach Retainer with experienced senior responders and deliver CMMC-aware sustainment so the program keeps operating after we leave.
Walk into the C3PAO assessment with a defensible score, a clean CUI enclave, and a program that survives the next contract's flow-downs.
Capabilities
What we deliver
CMMC Readiness & Alignment
Gap assessment, SSP authoring, control implementation, and coordination with accredited C3PAOs when certification is required.
CUI Environments
Designed-for-NIST-800-171 environments — separate from corporate IT, supportable, audit-ready.
Supply Chain Risk Management
C-SCRM program design, vendor risk assessment, foreign ownership analysis, EO 14028 compliance.
ITAR-Aware Architecture
Cloud, identity, and data architectures that respect export-control obligations.
Insider Threat & Industrial Security
NITTF-aligned programs, NISPOM compliance, classified-environment cybersecurity coordination.
Engineering & Manufacturing Floor Security
OT cybersecurity for production floors, engineering workstations, CAD/PLM systems.
Align for CMMC. Protect CUI. Deliver to the warfighter.
Let's talk about your CMMC alignment roadmap, supply chain, or CUI environment.