CMMC 2.0 streamlines requirements for contractors

By Hollie Kapos, Corporate Counsel

In September 2020, DoD published an interim rule to implement CMMC, which became effective November 30, 2020. The DoD received over 850 public comments in response, citing concerns with cost, trust in the assessment ecosystem, and alignment to other federal requirements.

Accordingly, it began an internal assessment of CMMC policy and implementation and, as a result, DoD has just announced CMMC 2.0, which makes several substantial changes from the original model.

Levels streamlined in CMMC 2.0

Levels 2 and 4 have been removed, so there are now only three instead of five levels of compliance as follows:

• CMMC Level 1, Foundational – Requires implementation of the 17 controls from NIST SP 800-171 enumerated in FAR 52.204-21 and submission of an annual self-assessment to the DoD through the Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS).  
• CMMC Level 2, Advanced – Requires implementation of the 110 controls in NIST SP 800-171 and submission of an annual self-assessment or, if required to handle “critical national security information” (currently undefined), a triennial independent assessment performed by a CMMC Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO). 
• CMMC Level 3, Expert – Requires implementation of the 110 controls in NIST SP 800-171 and a subset of controls from NIST SP 800-172 and a triennial government-led assessment. Requirements for level 3 are still being developed.