The Dec. 31, 2017 deadline for cybersecurity compliance with DFARS Subparts 204.73, 239.76 has passed but the requirement for Department of Defense contractors and their sub-tier suppliers to be in compliance still remains in effect.  Continued noncompliance can jeopardize the ability to receive or keep DoD contracts, and contractors may be subject to financial penalties for noncompliance.  

 

Do you understand the impact of missing the deadline and what you need to have completed in your cybersecurity compliance efforts to keep your contracts or to bid on new contracts?

 

To help our area defense contractors and those in their supply chain understand the cyber-security guidelines as they will be applied in 2018, the Quad Cities Manufacturing Innovation Hub will host a two-day DFARS overview workshop to help companies better understand the new DFARS guidelines, important compliance deadlines, consequences for not complying, and ways to fast-track their efforts. 

 

The workshop will be led by Imprimis, Inc., a cyber-security consulting company that helps contractors quickly and efficiently assess their cyber-security processes, identify best practices to reduce their risks, and get them started on their way to cyber-security compliance.  

 

The two-day seminar will focus on the DFARS and an in-depth discussion on complying with the NIST 800-171 in 2018, and will include a detailed demonstration of software that allows selection of the appropriate subset of standards, documents compliance for both internal and external auditing, and decreases the amount of time and resources required to ensure compliance. This tool complies with DFARS Subparts 204.73, 239.76 and contains all 110 requirements and the 125 referenced controls from NIST 800-53. The software is ideal for small businesses or subcontractors who only have to comply with the DFARS NIST 800-171.

 

Qualifying criteria*:

• Company is either a prime contractor with the Dept. of Defense OR

• Company is a sub-tier supplier to a prime contractor with the Dept. of Defense

• Company is located in Scott, Clinton, Muscatine, Jackson, or Cedar Counties in Iowa or Rock Island, Whiteside, Henry, Mercer, or Knox Counties in Illinois.  

Funding for the workshop is provided by the Illinois Defense Industry Adjustment Program. The Illinois DIA Program supports the state’s defense and manufacturing industries by delivering resources and providing new insights that help companies and communities grow, diversify, and become more resilient. The Illinois DIA Program covers five communities considered to be at high risk to market force changes due to their ties to the defense industry, a high concentration of manufacturers or both. Areas include the Quad Cities, Rockford, Northeastern Illinois, Peoria and Southwestern Illinois.

 

With funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA), the program is executed through a partnership between the University of Illinois System, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and the Voorhees Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

 

*In compliance with Executive Order 13556, Contractors or subcontractors to government agencies and organizations must provide documentation and evidence proving that they are protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in order to show DFARS compliance. To be considered in compliance, an organization must complete a cybersecurity assessment based on the National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-171. Any areas found to be at risk need documented remediation strategies. Contractors affected by this mandate must implement the remediation strategies in order to continue to do business with governmental agencies and organizations after Dec. 31, 2017.

 

This program is presented by the Quad Cities Chamber's Quad Cities Manufacturing Innovation Hub and the Defense Industry Adjustment Program.