What Is CMMC and Why Should Massachusetts Businesses Care?
If your business is part of the Department of Defense supply chain — even as a subcontractor three tiers deep — CMMC compliance is coming for you. The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 is the DoD's framework for ensuring that every company handling federal data meets minimum cybersecurity standards.
Massachusetts has a thriving defense manufacturing sector, especially on the South Shore and across the Route 128 corridor. Precision machining shops, electronics manufacturers, engineering firms, and consulting companies — thousands of MA businesses will need CMMC certification to keep their defense contracts.
The Three Levels of CMMC 2.0
CMMC 2.0 simplified the original five-level model down to three:
Level 1 — Foundational (17 practices): Basic cyber hygiene for businesses handling Federal Contract Information (FCI). Think antivirus, strong passwords, physical security, and access controls. Most small subcontractors will need at least Level 1.
Level 2 — Advanced (110 controls): Aligned with NIST SP 800-171. Required for businesses handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). This is where it gets serious — encryption, incident response, audit logging, network segmentation, and much more.
Level 3 — Expert (110+ controls): For the most sensitive programs. Requires government-led assessment. Very few small businesses will need this level.
How to Know If You Need CMMC
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have any contracts with the Department of Defense?
- Are you a subcontractor to a company that has DoD contracts?
- Do you handle any data marked as CUI or FCI?
- Do your contracts include DFARS clause 252.204-7012?
If you answered yes to any of these, you almost certainly need CMMC certification. The specific level depends on the type of data you handle.
What CMMC Level 2 Actually Requires
Since most Massachusetts defense contractors will need Level 2, here's what that looks like in practice:
Access Control: Unique user accounts for everyone, role-based permissions, session timeouts, and remote access controls. No more shared logins.
Audit & Accountability: Logging all system access, protecting audit logs from tampering, and reviewing them regularly. You need to know who accessed what, when.
Configuration Management: Documented system configurations, change management processes, and security settings. No default passwords, no unnecessary services running.
Identification & Authentication: Multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all accounts, strong password policies, and certificate-based authentication where appropriate.
Incident Response: A documented incident response plan, tested regularly, with designated roles and communication procedures.
Risk Assessment: Regular vulnerability assessments, risk analysis, and remediation tracking. You can't protect what you haven't assessed.
System & Communications Protection: Encryption for CUI at rest and in transit, network segmentation, and boundary protection (firewalls, intrusion detection).
The Cost of CMMC Compliance for Small Businesses
Let's be honest about costs — this is usually the first question business owners ask.
For a typical small Massachusetts manufacturer (10-50 employees):
- Level 1 readiness: $5,000–$15,000 in IT improvements, plus the cost of a self-assessment
- Level 2 readiness: $20,000–$75,000 in IT improvements, depending on your starting point
- Level 2 assessment: $20,000–$50,000 for a C3PAO assessment
- Ongoing maintenance: $1,000–$3,000/month for monitoring, updates, and managed security
These numbers vary significantly based on your current IT maturity. A company that already has a managed IT provider and decent security might spend far less than one starting from scratch.
A Practical Roadmap for Massachusetts Businesses
Here's the approach we recommend for South Shore businesses starting their CMMC journey:
Step 1: Know your scope. Identify exactly what CUI/FCI you handle and where it lives in your systems. This defines your CMMC boundary — and the smaller you can make it, the less expensive compliance will be.
Step 2: Get a gap assessment. Have a qualified IT provider audit your current environment against CMMC requirements. You'll get a clear list of what you have vs. what you need.
Step 3: Build a remediation plan. Prioritize gaps by risk and cost. Some fixes are quick (enabling MFA, updating passwords) while others take time (network redesign, new backup systems).
Step 4: Implement controls. This is the heavy lifting — deploying encryption, setting up monitoring, configuring access controls, writing policies, and training employees.
Step 5: Document everything. CMMC requires a System Security Plan (SSP) and Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M). These aren't optional — assessors will ask for them first.
Step 6: Assess and certify. For Level 1, you self-assess. For Level 2, you'll work with a certified C3PAO. Your IT provider should prepare you thoroughly before the assessment.
Don't Wait Until You Lose a Contract
The biggest risk isn't the cost of compliance — it's losing contracts because you didn't start soon enough. CMMC requirements are being phased into new contracts now, and by 2027, they'll be required across the DoD supply chain.
If you're a Massachusetts business in the defense supply chain, the time to start is now. Not next quarter, not when the contract renewal comes up — now.
Get Started With a Free Assessment
Power Up Boston has been serving South Shore businesses for 17+ years. We help manufacturers, engineering firms, and defense contractors navigate CMMC compliance with a practical, no-nonsense approach. We also provide managed IT services and cybersecurity to keep you protected and compliant year-round.
Contact us for a free CMMC gap assessment — we'll tell you exactly where you stand and what it'll take to get certified.