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The Idaho Technology Council hosted an excellent virtual conference, Develop.Idaho, on February 25th, 2021. This event has been running for 10 years and has grown dramatically since inception. Introductions were provided by ITC's President, Jay Larsen, and a keynote speaker and CEO of Albertsons, Vivek Shankaran.

They say, “rules are meant to be broken,” but in the case of a cybercriminal, rules are meant to be created… Email rules that is. A new twist on the age-old email phishing tactic has enabled attackers to cause over $1.7 billion in losses since 2019. Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams account for more than half of all losses according to the FBI’s Cyber Crime Report.

New year, new business contracts, right? Ever since the Department of Defense (DoD) introduced its new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program there has been a ton of uncertainty. Many contractors are idling in a learning mode to see how it plays out. Unfortunately, those who still want to do business with the federal government will find themselves at a crossroads in 2021.

Government contractors today are constantly under the scrutiny of security compliance. After all, breaching a government contractor is an efficient path to stealing valuable U.S economic as well as national security information. These attaches are actively carried out by nation-state threat actors. Several years ago, the Department of Defense (DoD) worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to create a security manual to address this issue- it was titled NIST SP 800-171. However, implementing NIST SP 800-171 has proved difficult as fulfilling its requirement can be costly and almost unattainable for contractors with low cyber literacy. This year the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) was released to revamp the existing requirements for DoD contractors and help address the complications associated with NIST SP 800-171.

A service organization control audit, or SOC 2 audit, provides a report on an organization’s security controls. There are two types of SOC 2 reports, Type I and Type II, which we have touched on in other posts. Here we’ll discuss why B2B tech companies of all sizes are pursuing SOC 2 audits more than ever before.

On the surface, a SOC 2 certification may sound like just another flashy security badge or boring report that management reads. However, having a successful SOC 2 has been proven to be an asset, supporting company growth by helping organizations land enterprise contracts, grow revenue, and increase their market share.

Data exfiltration is a growing concern among businesses and governments alike. After all, data is the most valuable asset second to people that an organization has. The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is the government’s response to data exfiltration. It’s an attempt to bolster cybersecurity among the defense industrial base (DIB) and is becoming a requirement for defense contractors performing work for the Department of Defense (DoD).

One of the best business books I have read is “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. The reason I liked it so much is the author makes the point that many of the great companies in America have a noble cause as their mission that differentiate them from their competitors.

Regardless of your organization’s security posture, a NIST cyber risk assessment can add immense value to your business. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, or more commonly known as NIST, is a non-regulatory federal agency that develops standards for a plethora of commonly relied on services and products.

Security awareness increasing, but numbers show employees are still not listening