October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which makes it the perfect time to let our customers and suppliers know what we’re doing to keep their information safe.

In our July blog, we shared that Sirois Tool was working toward compliance with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC 2.0). This document will certify compliance with NIST SP 800-171 R3. NIST provides security standards and practices for non-federal organizations that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) on their networks.

Our Cybersecurity Consultant, Management Systems Improvement (MSI), confirmed in August that Sirois Tool is compliant with the 31 basic controls of NIST SP 800-171. This will help fast track our certification now that phase 1 of CMMC 2.0 officially begins on Dec.16, 2024.

Paperless Parts published a whitepaper this spring that emphasizes why small to mid-sized manufacturing companies like ours should pursue certification:

“The Defense Industrial Base (DIB) spends billions of dollars annually to develop and build military technology: a development process that often takes years or decades. Foreign adversaries have become adept at attacking weaker points in the supply chain to shortcut that development process and produce cutting-edge technologies at a fraction of the price.

Why should job shops care? Simple: if you were a cybercriminal looking to steal CUI, would you set your sights on a major defense contractor that spends millions of dollars on security and IT infrastructure, or would you try to seek out the most vulnerable, least secure parts of the supply chain?”

As DoD suppliers (and Americans) we have a responsibility to safeguard our nation’s intellectual assets, and achieving CMMC 2.0 ensures we’re doing our part. Also, according to the DoD, manufacturers who don’t achieve this certification won’t be considered for DoD contract work.

The certification process takes 1-2 years, so companies that haven’t begun the process are already behind. What better time to start than now, during Cybersecurity Awareness Month?

In addition to safeguarding our customers’ data, Sirois Tool is committed to continuously improving our equipment and processes to ensure we meet or exceed our customers’ needs. Contact Us when you need precision parts, tooling, or fixtures expertly made in confidence.