The federal government is one of the largest buyers of cloud services in the world, representing a massive opportunity for Cloud Service Providers (CSPs). But to do business with federal agencies, you need to meet their stringent security standards. Enter FedRAMP.

If you are a cloud provider looking to unlock unprecedented growth, achieving FedRAMP compliance is your golden ticket. However, the framework is known for being complex, rigorous, and ever-evolving with the highly anticipated rollout of the FedRAMP 20x modernization initiative.

Here is your modern guide to understanding exactly what is FedRAMP, navigating its requirements, and preparing your business for the sweeping FedRAMP 20x changes on the horizon.

What is FedRAMP?

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a United States federal government-wide compliance program. It provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services.

Instead of agencies conducting redundant, individual security assessments for the same cloud product, FedRAMP establishes a "do once, use many times" framework. Once your cloud service is certified, any federal agency can leverage your solution with confidence, saving time and resources for both the government and your business.

How FedRAMP Authorization Works

At Rhymetec, we know firsthand that the road to FedRAMP can feel overwhelming. We streamline each phase to reduce friction and accelerate your journey to compliance. Typically, the authorization process involves:

1. Scope Assessment: Defining your system boundaries and determining the exact scope of your cloud environment.
2. Gap Assessment & Planning: Assessing your current controls against FedRAMP requirements and building a project plan to close any gaps.
3. Policy & Control Implementation: Creating and operationalizing all required FedRAMP-aligned policies, procedures, documentation, and technical safeguards.
4. Audit Preparation & Authorization: Coordinating with a Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) to complete the formal assessment and achieve your certification.

What are the FedRAMP Requirements?

FedRAMP requirements are based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-53. To meet these requirements, organizations must develop comprehensive documentation and implement strict technical controls.

Key deliverables include:

• A complete System Security Plan (SSP) detailing how every control is implemented.
• A Security Assessment Plan (SAP) and Security Assessment Report (SAR) generated during the 3PAO audit.
• A Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) to track and remediate any vulnerabilities.
• Policy and procedure development across all NIST control families.
• A robust continuous monitoring framework to maintain compliance post-certification.

CMMC vs. FedRAMP: What’s the Difference?

If your organization is navigating the federal compliance landscape, you’ve likely heard of CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) alongside FedRAMP. While both frameworks are rooted in NIST standards and share the goal of protecting government data, they apply to very different types of businesses:  

• FedRAMP applies to Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) that want to sell their cloud software or infrastructure to federal agencies.  
• CMMC applies to defense contractors and subcontractors within the Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain to ensure they are protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).  

The two frameworks collide when a defense contractor uses a cloud service to store or process CUI. Under CMMC mandates, that contractor can only use a cloud service if the CSP is either fully FedRAMP Moderate Certified or has achieved 100% FedRAMP Moderate Equivalency (which requires a rigorous 3PAO assessment of its own).  

In short: If you provide cloud services, you need FedRAMP. If you provide goods, services, or research to the DoD, you need CMMC.

Check out our complete guide on CMMC vs. FedRAMP here.

Understanding FedRAMP Levels (and New Naming Conventions)

FedRAMP categorizes cloud systems based on the potential impact of a security breach.

Important Update: If you haven't been following the latest FedRAMP updates, the terminology is shifting. To align with other industry frameworks and reduce market confusion, the term FedRAMP "Authorized" is changing to FedRAMP "Certified." Furthermore, the traditional impact levels are transitioning to a streamlined Class-based system.

Here is how the new naming conventions break down:

• Class A (Formerly FedRAMP Ready): Indicates that a 3PAO has attested to your readiness and you are listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace, making it easier for an agency to sponsor you.
• Class B (Formerly FedRAMP Low): Designed for systems where the loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability would have a limited adverse effect on an agency.
• Class C (Formerly FedRAMP Moderate): The most common level. This applies to systems where a breach would have a serious adverse effect on an agency's operations or assets.
• Class D (Formerly FedRAMP High): Reserved for the government’s most sensitive, unclassified data (e.g., law enforcement, emergency services, financial systems) where a breach could have severe or catastrophic consequences.

How Long Does FedRAMP Certification Take?

The timeline to achieve FedRAMP certification varies significantly depending on your organization's current security posture, the complexity of your system, and the Class (A-D) you are pursuing. Generally, the entire process, from initial scoping to final certification, can take anywhere from 9 to 12+ months.

A note on existing frameworks: If you already hold a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification, you have a great foundation. There is notable overlap in governance and basic security policies. However, FedRAMP requires a much more rigorous, technical implementation of controls. Having SOC 2 will speed up your gap analysis, but expect to invest significant engineering time to meet FedRAMP’s exacting architectural and technical standards.

How Does FedRAMP Pricing Work?

Achieving FedRAMP certification is a strategic investment. Costs are typically broken down into three buckets:

• Engineering & Infrastructure: Upgrading your cloud environment to meet stringent federal standards (e.g., dedicated GovCloud environments, FIPS-validated encryption).
• Consulting & Preparation: Partnering with experts to handle gap assessments, policy creation, and SSP development.
• 3PAO Audit Fees: Paying the accredited third-party auditor to conduct the official assessment.

While the upfront cost is higher than commercial certifications, the ROI is substantial. A FedRAMP certification essentially unlocks the entire federal marketplace for your sales team.

What's Changing: FedRAMP 20x

As the cyber landscape evolves, so does FedRAMP. The upcoming "FedRAMP 20x" updates focus on modernizing the framework, improving automation, and accelerating the authorization timeline.

Here is what the FedRAMP 20x modernization means for cloud providers today:

A Shift to "FedRAMP Validated”

While legacy authorizations are shifting to the "FedRAMP Certified" label, 20x introduces the new FedRAMP Validated designation. This proves to agencies that your security isn't just a point-in-time audit, but a continuously monitored and automatically enforced reality.  

No Agency Sponsor Required

Traditionally, CSPs had to secure a federal agency sponsor before beginning the authorization process, a massive hurdle. FedRAMP 20x opens a direct-to-PMO authorization path, removing the sponsor bottleneck.  

Automation Replaces Prose

Instead of writing hundreds of pages explaining your security controls, 20x focuses on machine-readable data and automated continuous monitoring feeds. If you already have a strong commercial security framework in place, you can inherit many of those policies to reduce redundant documentation.  

Unprecedented Speed to Market

By removing the red tape and relying on automated validation, the 20x initiative has slashed approval times during its pilot phases. What once took well over a year is actively being streamlined down to a matter of months or even weeks.  These changes aim to get secure, commercial cloud technologies into the hands of federal agencies faster than ever. However, making the leap to a fully automated, machine-readable compliance posture requires serious technical maturity. 

What This Means for Your Strategy

For cloud service providers, these changes mean that getting FedRAMP Certified is becoming a more structured, logical process, but the technical bar remains as high as ever.

Your strategy should focus on proactive preparation. Don't wait for a federal agency sponsor to ask for your SSP to start building it. Begin your scoping and gap assessment now. Determine whether your target market requires Class B, C, or D certification, and build a roadmap to close those technical gaps.

Most importantly, don't do it alone. Navigating the transition from commercial security to federal compliance requires specialized expertise.

Ready to Speak to a FedRAMP Consultant?

At Rhymetec, we deliver the clarity, documentation, and expertise needed for successful certification. With a decade of trusted delivery and a 100% in-house team (never outsourced), we help you every step of the way, making an otherwise complex process clear, structured, and achievable.

From gap assessment and policy development to control implementation and 3PAO audit coordination, we simplify the journey so you can focus on unlocking new growth.

Contact us today to speak with one of our compliance experts.

In 2025, more companies than ever before are budgeting for ISO 27001 certification costs. In a recent ISO survey, the global number of ISO 27001 certificates reached over 70,000 certificates and were reported in 150 countries and across a range of economic sectors. 

Many of these certifications are driven by customer demand and procurement requirements, in particular in fields such as B2B SaaS. 

Understandably, cost is often one of the most important questions companies exploring their compliance options have. ISO 27001 is a bit more involved than other frameworks in this space, such as SOC 2, as it requires a broader set of security controls and third-party requirements. 

External audit costs, internal resource time, implementing technology changes at your organization, and ongoing maintenance all factor into ISO 27001 certification costs. Without a clear breakdown, it can be easy to underestimate both the initial investment and the ongoing effort. 

This blog outlines what to expect for ISO 27001 certification costs, based on current market data, our team’s firsthand experience working with SaaS startups, and input from certified auditors we work closely with.

Preparation Costs 

Preparation costs for ISO 27001 represent a substantial part of the overall investment. Before engaging a registrar (an accredited certification body), your organization must complete a range of activities that require time, resources, investing in new technologies, and, in many cases, external support. 

Typically, the first step of an ISO 27001 engagement is a gap assessment. A gap assessment shows where you are versus where you need to be by identifying missing controls and policy gaps in comparison to the ISO 27001 standard. Companies may complete this assessment internally or work with a third-party consultant for greater objectivity and expertise (if you don’t have in-house personnel with compliance experience). 

Following the gap assessment, staff training and security awareness are typically the next steps. 

Every employee needs to understand their role in protecting both company and customer data. Your organization will likely need to develop new onboarding materials, invest in employee training sessions, and plan targeted training sessions for engineers and leadership.

The adoption of new software for compliance is often included in the preparation phase. Startups in rapid phases of growth typically select to use tools like Drata or Vanta to automate the pieces of compliance that can be automated, and keep track of their progress in one central place. 

These tools support policy management, control tracking, evidence collection, audit preparation, and more. These platforms can vastly simplify the compliance process, but they do entail an investment. Check out our blog post on compliance automation platforms for more information on how these tools work and how they accelerate compliance.

Each one of these preparation activities helps to create a foundation for a successful certification process. Companies that invest early on in assessments, training, and new technologies tend to move through the audit with greater efficiency and fewer surprises. While the cost ranges vary, the effort spent up front directly impacts how much time and work will be needed later on. 

Estimated Total Cost of Preparation: $2,000 - $10,000

ISO 27001 Certification Cost: Documentation and Policy Development 

ISO 27001 requires formal documentation of the Information Security Management System (ISMS), including your policies and procedures. Documents are reviewed during the audit and must align with how your organization operates in practice.

For this step, most companies begin by building out a core set of policies around access control, vendor management, risk management, acceptable use policies, incident response policies, and asset management. Policies must reflect actual practices and responsibilities that are implemented. 

While templates can be used to accelerate this step, customization specific to your organization is important. This is a good example of where using a compliance automation tool (such as Vanta or Drata) in combination with working with an expert security and compliance professional (such as our vCISOs at Rhymetec) can be extremely helpful:

The compliance automation tool provides an excellent baseline, while a dedicated team can customize documentation and policy development to your organization in a way that will pass scrutiny during your audit. 

Some companies choose to adopt a full ISMS documentation toolkit or policy automation platform. Although optional, these tools simplify everything from version control to auditor access and stakeholder review, but they do come with additional software costs. 

Your documentation will be one of the most scrutinized aspects of your ISO 27001 audit. It’s critical to adequately plan out enough time and resources to draft, review, and align policies with actual practices. Building out your policies with day-to-day operations in mind can help streamline the audit process while supporting long-term security and compliance.

Estimated Cost of Documentation and Policy Development: $1,000 - $8,000

Implementation Costs: Building The Framework 

Once documentation is drafted, the next step is to begin actually implementing the controls required by ISO 27001. 

The most critical piece of this phase is making sure your policies are aligned with real operational practices. Additionally, at this stage, you will assign responsibilities and validate that controls work as they are meant to. Costs can also add up during the implementation phase from technology upgrades you may need. 

Conducting a risk assessment and documenting a plan to mitigate any identified risks is also a key part of this stage. Many companies choose to circumvent the need to acquire new technologies and dedicate internal resources by engaging a vCISO (Virtual CISO). At Rhymetec, our vCISOs take the implementation work off your plate and accomplish these items for you. 

Estimated Implementation Costs: $1,000 - $10,000

Internal Audit and Pre-Audit Expenses 

Before undergoing your certification audit, you’ll need to complete an internal audit. 

In many cases, organizations will outsource this step to a firm specializing in pre-audit assessments (or, if you are already working with a vCISO, they will do this work for you!). Organizations with internal teams can manage this on their own, but many choose to work with outside consultants to speed things up and ensure objectivity. It’s important to note that it’s encouraged to find internal auditors who are PECB-accredited. 

The pre-audit, or readiness assessment, is a voluntary but highly recommended assessment typically carried out by a consultant (such as a vCISO) or the certification entity. This serves to mimic your official audit, identifying areas of weakness and reducing the risk of non-conformity during your real audit. Costs during this stage also reflect the need to revise any discovered gaps, finalize your evidence collection, and coordinate between teams.

Estimated Internal Audit & Pre-Audit Costs: $1,000 - $6,000

Certification Audit Costs 

After you’ve completed your ISO 27001 readiness work, the ISO 27001 certification audit is conducted by an accredited, external entity. The process is divided into two phases:

Phase 1 - Verifies your documentation.

Phase 2 - Verifies that controls are working as intended.

Costs depend primarily on organizational size, which region you are in, how complex your infrastructure is, and the level of risk associated with your operations. The total cost of the audit covers both of these phases. For startups or for SMBs with less than 100 employees, the audit typically takes anywhere from a few days to two weeks.

If areas of non-conformity are discovered during the audit, it may be necessary to undergo a follow-up audit after making changes. This can cost extra as well. Some auditing firms also tack on administrative costs, in addition to the baseline cost of the audit. 

Estimated Cost For Accredited ISO 27001 Audit: $4,000 - $12,000

Ongoing Costs: Maintaining Your Certification 

Once certification has been obtained, your organization must maintain the ISMS and undergo annual surveillance audits. This requirement generates a recurring set of compliance activities to be completed every year: 

The annual surveillance audit is completed by an accredited firm. While less demanding compared to the original audit, it’s still an obligatory step. Your internal team or vCISO will manage updating documentation, risk remediation where needed, technical control updates, and more. 

Additionally, every three years your organization will need to undergo a recertification audit, with costs similar to the initial audit. This is built into the overall ISO 27001 certification costs for ongoing maintenance. 

Estimated Ongoing Costs (Annualized): $1,000 - $4,000

Additional Factors That May Influence Your ISO 27001 Certification Cost 

While most organizations follow a similar certification process, a number of variables can influence total cost. The following factors will affect the duration of your audit, internal preparation effort, and the level of external support needed: 

Company Size and Structure

Larger teams, companies with multiple office locations, or hybrid work environments tend to increase both the number of controls and the audit scope. Costs due to these factors add up in terms of time spent on audit activities, documentation, and coordinating with internal teams. 

Level of Technical Complexity

Companies with custom infrastructure, multi-cloud environments, or proprietary platforms often require additional effort in terms of documentation and control verification. Auditors also need to spend more time reviewing technical evidence in these cases. 

Systems and Vendors That Are In-Scope

The number of systems and third-party services included in the ISMS directly affects the depth and length of your audit. Most companies include at least a dozen vendors in their initial ISO 27001 scope. 

Internal Experience Level

Companies without prior compliance experience will require a greater level of external guidance. Meanwhile, teams that are already familiar with SOC 2 or similar frameworks tend to move faster and are able to reduce external costs. 

The controls required for ISO 27001 overlap with several other popular frameworks in this space. If you already have SOC 2, for example, your organization can leverage some of those requirements to meet some of the ISO 27001 requirements. 

Auditing Body Selection

Certification bodies charge different rates and employ slightly different methodologies. Regional pricing differences, travel costs, and preferred audit partners can influence the final quote. 

Total ISO 27001 Certification Cost

For most startups and SMBs, the full cost of ISO 27001 certification falls between $10,000 - $50,000. This covers everything from preparation, implementation, internal and external readiness assessments, the official audit, and the first year of ongoing expenses. 

Companies building from scratch and managing the process on their own will fall toward the higher range, while companies that opt to engage external support (such as a vCISO) will see lower overall bundled costs, even if they are starting from scratch. 

This cost is front-loaded in year one, with most of the budget being allocated before and during the initial audit. After certification, annual maintenance costs are typically much lower.

In Conclusion: Planning For ISO 27001 Certification Cost 

ISO 27001 certification is a multi-phase effort that touches nearly every part of a company’s operations. The audit itself is just one part of the full cost. Preparation work, implementation of the ISMS, internal (and external) testing, and ongoing maintenance all contribute to the total budget. 

Companies that plan early on and understand their internal capacity are better positioned to keep costs under control. For early-stage teams, the main drivers of cost are scope, control maturity, and whether you’re handling the work internally or bringing in outside help. 

Most startups and small to mid-sized companies spend between $10,000 - $50,000, depending on how much needs to be built from scratch. Large corporations may spend over $100,000, depending on their industry and the complexity of their operations. At Rhymetec, our vCISO pricing depends on which tier of support you select:

Properly budgeting for ISO 27001 certification costs enables organizations to get certified while building sustainable security practices that scale as the business grows. Whether you are in the early stages of building your compliance program or if you have already started the work and feel stuck, our experts can assist. Contact us today to get started.

The federal government spends more than $100 billion annually on IT services, much of it through contracts with private companies. That level of investment brings strict cybersecurity expectations, especially for contractors that handle government data. 

Two frameworks frequently encountered in this space are the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) and the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). Both programs share the same goal of protecting sensitive information. However, they serve slightly different purposes and apply to different types of vendors. 

CMMC is designed for companies working with the Department of Defense, in particular for those that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Over 100,000 companies are part of the Defense Industrial Base. Any of them that handle CUI will eventually need to meet CMMC Level 2 or 3. 

Meanwhile, FedRAMP applies to cloud service providers working with civilian federal agencies. If you are a defense contractor, a SaaS provider, or if your organization supports both civilian and DoD programs, it's important to understand how CMMC and FedRAMP compare.

This article outlines the main differences between CMMC and FedRAMP, including which types of organizations they apply to, the requirements of each framework, and how to handle certification.

Who Needs CMMC and Who Needs FedRAMP?

CMMC and FedRAMP apply to different groups of contractors and vendors based on two factors: 

1. The agencies they serve, and
2. The type of data they handle. 

In short, if you're in the DoD supply chain, you may need to meet CMMC. If you're a cloud provider for civilian agencies, you may need FedRAMP authorization. Some organizations may need to pursue both if they serve both sides of the government in these capacities.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of a few common types of companies to which CMMC would apply. Remember that CMMC applies to companies that do business with the Department of Defense (DoD) and process, store, or transmit Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or Federal Contract Information (FCI): 

• Defense manufacturers that produce components for aircrafts, vehicles, or weapons systems.
• Managed IT providers that support DoD facilities or systems.
• Staffing firms placing personnel in DoD programs (that involve access to CUI).
• R&D firms involved in any military-related developments or prototypes under DoD contracts. 
• SaaS companies providing support to DoD missions. 
• …and more.

Basically, if a company touches DoD contract information in any way (and in particular if it involves CUI), it will most likely fall under CMMC. 

FedRAMP, on the other hand, applies to cloud service providers that want to sell their platforms or applications to civilian federal agencies (non-DoD). The types of companies this would include are:

• SaaS, IaaS, and PaaS vendors offering cloud-based products to agencies like the Department of Energy, the Department of the Treasury, or the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Data analytics platforms with cloud infrastructure that hosts government data. 
• Project management or HR platforms that are seeking to be used across multiple federal departments.
• File storage, communications, or productivity tools that may process or store government records.
• Software vendors selling through government marketplaces like FedRAMP.gov or GSA Advantage. 

For more information on what you will need to plan for to meet CMMC requirements specifically - and depending on which level of CMMC you need - check out our CMMC Level 1 Checklist and our CMMC Level 2 Checklist.

Security Requirements Compared

While CMMC and FedRAMP indeed share some overlap given their common goal to protect sensitive government data, they are built on different baseline requirements, and their approaches to security controls differ.

CMMC is based on the NIST SP 800-171 framework. It requires organizations to implement 110 security controls across 14 control families if they handle CUI and need to meet Level 2 certification. For organizations handling only FCI (Federal Contract Information), Level 1 requires 15 controls focused on basic security hygiene. CMMC's overall requirements are structured around the following security considerations:

• Access control
• Incident response
• Configuration management
• Personnel and physical security
• System and communications protection (measures such as encryption and traffic monitoring). 

Additionally, organizations must also produce documentation, including System Security Plans (SSPs) and Plans of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms), and be ready for assessment by a third-party assessment organization (C3PAO) at Level 2 or 3. Lastly, it's important to note that CMMC 2.0 is not a point-in-time audit. Contractors are required to maintain compliance continuously. For Levels 2 and 3, assessment will lapse upon failure to annually affirm, according to the DoD's CMMC Guidance.

FedRAMP, by contrast, is based largely on NIST SP 800-53 controls, which are a bit more complex in scope. A Moderate FedRAMP authorization requires over 300 controls across a wide range of domains, including:

• Continuous monitoring of systems and data.
• Incident response procedures and breach notification timelines.
• Risk assessment processes and security authorization packages.
• Documentation of how systems are interconnected/dependent on each other.
• Penetration testing and vulnerability scanning.
• Independent third-party assessments.

FedRAMP places more emphasis on supply chain risk management, cloud architecture documentation, and the remediation of vulnerabilities. Cloud service providers must show that they have a set of documents to pass the Joint Authorization Board or agency review. 

Documentation and Assessment Differences To Be Aware Of: CMMC vs. FedRAMP

The goal of documentation for CMMC (at Level 2) is to show that your organization meets the 110 controls from NIST SP 800-171. This includes documentation of:

1. How controls are being implemented, and the plan for how they will be maintained. This documentation is your System Security Plan (SSP).
2. A Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) - A list of gaps and a plan for remediation, with specific steps. 
3. A list of policies and procedures, showing how your organization covers access control, incident response, configuration management, and other security controls. 
4. Evidence of implementation (such as user logs, training records, configuration screenshots, etc) also must be included in your documentation. 

Finally, assessment is conducted by a C3PAO (Certified Third-Party Assessment Organization) for Level 2. Self-assessment is allowed at Level 1 (and in some cases, for Level 2), but must still be documented in SPRS (Supplier Performance Risk System) and affirmed by a senior official. 

*It's important to note that if you need CMMC Level 3, you will still need C3PAO affirmation completed on an annual basis, according to the DoD's updated overview of CMMC. For CMMC Level 3, the ongoing C3PAO assessments are in addition to undergoing an assessment every 3 years by the Defense Contract Management Agency's Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Assessment Center (DIBCAC). 

FedRAMP documentation, meanwhile, is part of a full authorization package submitted to either a sponsoring agency or the Joint Authorization Board. Required documents include: 

1. System Security Plan (SSP) - this can often reach over 600 pages for Moderate-level systems!
2. A Privacy Impact Assessment that identifies how personal data is being collected, used, and protected.
3. A Continuous Monitoring Plan detailing how your organization will monitor system changes, incidents, and vulnerabilities.
4. An Incident Response Plan, showing how incidents will be reported and handled.
5. Documentation showing how system changes are approved and tracked (also known as a Configuration Management Plan). 

Assessment is carried out by a third-party assessment organization that has been recognized by the FedRAMP PMO (Program Management Office). FedRAMP requires ongoing authorization maintenance, which takes the form of monthly vulnerability scans, incident reporting, and annual reassessments. 

How Certification Works: CMMC vs. FedRAMP

CMMC 2.0 certification is tied to a company's eligibility for Department of Defense contracts. Depending on the sensitivity of the data involved, contractors must meet either Level 1 (self-assessed) Level 2 (typically third-party assessed) requirements, or Level 3 (third-party assessed). As discussed in greater detail in the previous sections, the process entails the following steps:

The first step is to conduct an internal NIST 800-171 gap assessment to compare where you are versus where you need to be. The next step is to document your System Security Plan and Plan of Action and Milestones, followed by finally engaging a certified third-party assessment organization (for Level 2 and 3). 

There is no central approval body, and certification is granted per contract, with the assessment scope being based on the environment that contains CUI. 

FedRAMP follows a centralized authorization process managed by the FedRAMP Program Management Office. There are two paths:

1. Agency Authorization. For this option, a single agency sponsors the cloud service provider and reviews the authorization package. 
2. Joint Authorization Board. Authorization via a Joint Authorization Board (which comprises the DHS, GSA, and the DoD) involves a higher bar of scrutiny. 

For the FedRAMP process, your organization will work with a Third-Party Assessment Organization to complete your Security Assessment Plan and Security Assessment Report. You'll then need to submit a full authorization package through FedRAMP's secure repository, and finally, undergo ongoing monitoring after approval.

Can You Be Compliant With Both?

The short answer is yes.

If your organization provides cloud-based services to civilian agencies and works with the Department of Defense, you likely need to comply with both FedRAMP and CMMC. For example, a SaaS company that supports DoD contracts involving CUI will need CMMC Level 2, and if the same product is then sold to a civilian agency (like the Department of Energy), they will also need FedRAMP authorization. 

CMMC and FedRAMP share foundational requirements from NIST standards. But it's not a direct map on - meeting FedRAMP Moderate, for instance, doesn't automatically mean you meet CMMC Level 2. The good news is it absolutely does reduce duplication in areas such as access control, system monitoring, and incident response. 

If you do need both CMMC and FedRAMP, figuring out early on how to align both compliance efforts can reduce cost and headaches down the road. This is a common use case for working with a consultant to manage both tracks. A consultant has the experience implementing these requirements across a large spectrum of different types of organizations, and can help ensure efficient implementation.

When To Bring In A Consultant Or MSSP

A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office shows that many small businesses in the defense industry lack the internal resources to implement NIST 800-171 without outside help. This illustrates a growing need for CMMC consultants and MSSPs. 

In the report, many smaller businesses in particular expressed concerns about the costs and resources required for CMMC implementation. This is where outsourcing the process can be transformative. Outsourcing is a fraction of the investment that building out an in-house team to carry out the implementation process would be. 

The fact is that organizations often wait too long to bring in help, and this can lead to missed deadlines and unnecessary rework. If you're pursuing CMMC, FedRAMP, or both, bringing in a consultant early can reduce risk and cost. 

It can be a good idea to bring in a consultant or MSSP if you don't have internal staff with experience in NIST 800-171 or 800-53 implementation, if you're unsure how to scope your CUI, if you're being asked to respond to a security questionnaire and aren't confident in your answers, or if you need to align your environment for both frameworks. 

A consultant will perform a gap analysis, build a compliance roadmap, draft documentation for you, implement technical controls, and fully prepare your team for assessment. For small and mid-sized organizations, especially those with aggressive go-to-market timelines, outsourcing to a qualified team helps avoid delays and prevents compliance from blocking growth.

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We’ve worked with hundreds of companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.

So, you're considering SOC 2 or ISO 27001 for the first time - and realizing just how much time and expertise it takes to actually get there. That's where Vanta (and Rhymetec!) comes in: 

Vanta automates 90% of compliance monitoring through integrations with 300+ systems, real-time control insights, and automated evidence collection—enhancing your visibility into your security posture. Rhymetec handles the hands-on readiness tasks for you. The combination of Vanta with our tailored services delivers a faster, more manageable path to audit success. 

Our team of experts at Rhymetec, by leveraging Vanta for you, accelerates every step of your compliance journey from the initial scoping phase to auditor handoff. We've helped over 1,000 organizations efficiently meet their security and compliance goals with this method. Here's how Vanta works in conjunction with our services, and how the platform can benefit you immediately, especially if you are early on in the process of compliance:  

Vanta Automates Compliance Workflows

Vanta automates the visibility into tasks required to build a compliance program. One of the main value adds of Vanta is that it will handle the repetitive work for you and give you back your time to focus on what really matters - growing your business. Here's how it works, particularly for organizations early in their compliance journey:

Using Vanta circumvents the need to even get started on tedious manual spreadsheets and checklists. Instead, Vanta enables organizations to jump right in and leverage its capabilities, including system integrations and automated collection of evidence. 

For instance, a startup pursuing SOC 2 may need to prove that it restricts employee access to production systems, monitors for security incidents, and keeps its asset inventory up-to-date and in line with SOC 2 requirements. Vanta connects to systems including AWS, GitHub, Google Workspace, and Okta to automatically accomplish the following:

• Display passing controls. 
• Simplify policy management.
• Collect the evidence needed for an audit.

It also includes pre-built policy templates for every framework, so teams can work from a baseline and avoid having to write everything from scratch. Leadership is able to track compliance status in real time and improve visibility tied to audit preparation for employees—resulting in efficiency and reduced time to compliance.

Who Uses Vanta And Why 

Vanta is primarily used by fast-growing, cloud-native organizations that are seeking to meet relevant security and data privacy requirements in the most efficient way possible. Often, these organizations are trying to avoid dedicating excessive internal resources to manual compliance work. However, we’ve seen companies from all sizes—startup to enterprise—with varying environments—such as multi-cloud and hybrid—utilize Vanta to streamline their compliance efforts. 

Some of the main reasons companies opt to use Vanta are to help them: 

1. Reduce their audit timelines.
2. Improve visibility into their security posture.
3. Lower the overall cost of compliance.

Vanta connects to the tools you use via API, the cloud infrastructure you're set up in, and your internal systems to give you a complete view of your security and compliance. 

This eliminates the need for fragmented spreadsheets and manual checklists, providing leadership more control over compliance progress and unburdening technical teams that are already stretched thin. 

Another core value add is that Vanta enables a single source of truth for audit readiness, helping leaders and your sales team demonstrate you're where you need to be in terms of security and compliance to auditors, customers, your partners, and other stakeholders. 

What Does Vanta Do? Vanta Supports Continuous Compliance 

It's important to know going into your compliance journey that compliance doesn’t stop after one audit. 

Frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA require ongoing evidence of control effectiveness, which means you need continuous monitoring rather than only point-in-time documentation.  

Vanta is built precisely to support this model. It runs in the background, constantly monitoring your infrastructure and systems for changes that could impact compliance. It will flag any issues in real time, such as expired access, unapproved software, or missing security training. The platform centralizes the evidence you'll need to show controls are operating continuously. 

This approach replaces manual check-ins and periodic reviews with continuous visibility. Combined with Rhymetec's guidance and remediation support, clients stay audit-ready year-round without having to rebuild compliance work from scratch each cycle. 

Vanta Streamlines The Work of Cybersecurity & Compliance Experts

Vanta automates the visibility into tasks (While Rhymetec can support the completion of them) that are most likely to slow down compliance teams, allowing the experts to focus on higher-impact and more specific work. Tasks like collecting screenshots, tracking evidence, and managing spreadsheets shift to automated processes within the platform. 

For Rhymetec's team, the platform provides a centralized source of truth and allows us to spend more time analyzing results and guiding clients through control implementation. Our team uses Vanta in every step of the compliance automation process on your behalf. By handling repetitive tasks and bringing issues to our attention automatically, Vanta allows us to carry out a more efficient process to compliance readiness for your organization.  

How Rhymetec Leverages Vanta To Deliver Compliance - Fast

Rhymetec leverages Vanta as a core part of our compliance delivery model. 

Our approach combines all of the benefits of automation with hands-on cybersecurity expertise to shorten the path to audit readiness. Our team configures Vanta for your systems and selected framework. We work hard to eliminate common setup delays and create alignment between compliance goals and actual business operations. 

Once deployed, Vanta automatically monitors your cloud infrastructure and systems for compliance-related activities. But automation alone doesn’t get you audit-ready. That’s where Rhymetec comes in. After the initial setup, our team steps in to:

1. Interpret and prioritize Vanta’s findings based on your unique business needs
2. Remediate flagged issues with hands-on support — not just advice
3. Tackle all remaining manual components like policy creation, access reviews, evidence collection, and control implementation

The combination of automated and manual work keeps the momentum going and gets clients through readiness assessments and audits on a much faster timeframe. By managing both Vanta and the 'hands-on' components of compliance readiness work on your behalf, we’re able to accelerate every phase of the compliance process. 

Why Pairing Vanta and Rhymetec Delivers Better Outcomes

Most frameworks require an array of expert judgment, manual implementation of certain controls, and a level of preparation that automation can't complete 100% of on its own. 

Rhymetec fills that gap by managing the manual work and aligning Vanta specifically to your environment. We interpret control requirements, resolve flagged issues, write custom policies, manage communication with auditors on your behalf, and more. 

By using Vanta for compliance automation - and Rhymetec filling in the gaps for you when needed - clients move faster and meet their compliance goals with less internal burden. Together, we consistently generate strong audit readiness and stronger security programs. 

Accessing Vanta Through Rhymetec

Rhymetec is proud to offer Vanta (in conjunction with our Vanta compliance services) directly to clients who haven't yet selected a compliance automation platform. 

Particularly in the case of clients early in their compliance journey, this vastly simplifies the buying process by providing both the technology and the services needed to meet requirements in one engagement. We give clients access to a world-class platform without requiring them to manage separate vendor relationships or navigate pricing and setup alone. 

Our team at Rhymetec handles everything from the initial deployment and setup in Vanta to ongoing administration of the platform on your behalf. This allows you to adopt automation earlier, which will accelerate your compliance timelines and help you avoid missteps that a self-directed rollout could entail. Contact our team to learn more:

Deepak Chopra once said, "All great changes are preceded by chaos." This has never been more accurate than when it’s applied to the current AI and cybersecurity environments—and the regulations that govern them.

New frameworks like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the EU AI Act, the Network and Information Systems Directive 2 (NIS2) and the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) are reshaping how businesses handle security, risk and compliance. These regulations aren't just about ticking boxes—they carry major financial penalties and demand real operational changes.

For companies in financial services, AI development, critical infrastructure or defense, staying ahead of the changes is vital to avoid penalties, protect data and maintain trust. Let's look at what each entails.

DORA: Protecting Financial Institutions From Cyber Disruptions

Financial institutions face constant cyber threats and operational risks. DORA aims to empower financial organizations to weather system disruptions and continue operating smoothly.

DORA requires penetration testing, vulnerability assessments and disaster recovery planning. It focuses on business continuity to ensure that if a system fails, a plan is in place to keep operations running. Banks, insurance companies and investment firms must validate security controls through rigorous testing.

This regulation is a wake-up call for financial institutions to take cybersecurity resilience seriously. The penalties for non-compliance are severe, making it crucial for businesses to invest in robust security testing and operational risk management.

The EU AI Act: Setting The Global Standard For AI Compliance

AI development currently operates in a regulatory gray area, but the EU AI Act is changing that. One of the first laws to set clear boundaries on AI usage, it focuses on ethical risks, security concerns and prohibited applications.

The most important takeaway is the significant financial penalties for non-compliance: These can be up to 7% of a company's global annual revenue or 35 million euros, whichever is higher. That's more than GDPR, which has already forced businesses worldwide to rethink their approach to data privacy.

This law explicitly bans certain AI applications, particularly those that exploit vulnerabilities. The ban includes AI-powered cyberattacks, social manipulation and unethical facial recognition practices. Article 5 of the act outlines prohibited AI uses, such as systems that exploit people's age, disabilities or socioeconomic circumstances.

This isn't simply a privacy factor; its purpose is to prevent AI from being weaponized.

A common misconception is that this law only affects European companies. That's not the case. Any company developing, deploying or processing AI systems in the EU—or serving EU customers—must comply. For example, if a U.S. company hosts its platform in an EU data center or processes European customer data, this regulation applies.

The EU AI Act is setting the stage for global AI governance. Similar regulations are expected to emerge worldwide, making it smart for businesses to adapt now rather than scrambling to comply later.

NIS2: Strengthening Cybersecurity For Critical Infrastructure

Also in the EU, the NIS2 Directive expands cybersecurity requirements for critical industries like energy, healthcare, transportation and digital services. It builds on the original NIS Directive but goes much further, applying to more organizations, increasing security expectations and enforcing stricter penalties.

The enhanced reporting requirements are one of the biggest challenges. Companies must notify regulators of cyber incidents within 24 hours, provide a complete assessment within 72 hours and demonstrate they are actively managing security risks.

The directive also emphasizes stronger supply chain security, holding companies responsible for ensuring their vendors meet cybersecurity standards. This means businesses can't just secure their own systems—they must also vet suppliers and partners to prevent weak links in the supply chain.

Beyond reporting and supply chain oversight, NIS2 enforces stricter governance requirements. Organizations must appoint security officers, conduct regular risk assessments and develop robust cybersecurity policies. Those that fail to comply face heavy financial penalties and increased regulatory scrutiny.

Compliance isn't optional for companies operating in or serving the EU market. NIS2 is setting a new cybersecurity standard, and businesses that don't act risk fines, operational disruptions and reputational damage.

CMMC: Raising the Bar For U.S. Defense Contractors

The CMMC is a requirement for companies working with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). It builds on cybersecurity frameworks like NIST 800-171, ensuring that defense contractors follow strict security protocols to protect sensitive government data.

Recent changes to CMMC include a new self-assessment option for Level 1 compliance, making it easier for smaller contractors to meet requirements without hiring third-party auditors. However, higher certification levels still require independent verification, adding layers of accountability.

With the new compliance requirements going into effect in mid-2025, businesses need to act now. The DoD has made it clear that CMMC certification will be mandatory for contracts, and companies that don't comply risk losing business.

Evolving Security Frameworks: A Smarter Approach To Compliance

For organizations handling sensitive data in healthcare, finance and other regulated industries, new security frameworks present a way to prove compliance with strict privacy and cybersecurity standards. In the past, certification required a lengthy, one-size-fits-all assessment, but newer models offer more flexible options with fewer controls, reducing complexity while maintaining security.

Many businesses don't realize that certification levels vary, and choosing a lower-tier option may not meet regulatory or customer expectations. This is especially important for HIPAA compliance, where recognized certifications can demonstrate that companies meet security standards. As cybersecurity laws evolve, understanding these frameworks ensures that businesses stay compliant, competitive and prepared for future regulations.

Laws like DORA, the EU AI Act and NIS2 are designed to keep technology from becoming a threat. AI development currently lacks clear rules—without oversight, it can be used in dangerous ways. These regulations force businesses to prioritize security and ethics upfront, preventing bigger problems down the road.

To stay ahead, organizations must:

1. Identify relevant regulations and update security policies.
2. Invest in risk assessments, penetration testing and employee training.
3. Stay informed—more regulations are coming.

Compliance isn't just about avoiding penalties but about building a safer, more resilient digital future. Companies that act now will lead, while those that wait will fall behind.

You can read the original article posted in Forbes by Rhymetec CISO, Metin Kortak.

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We've worked with hundreds of companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.

Working with a CMMC consultant is an attractive option for many organizations seeking to meet the updated CMMC requirements nowadays.

The Department of Defense (DoD) released CMMC 2.0 on October 15th, 2024, a requirement for defense contractors and subcontractors with the goal of improving cybersecurity standards. The updated version refines the original framework, aiming to simplify the path to compliance while maintaining the highest security standards for organizations that handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and other sensitive contract data. 

One way in which the updated version simplifies compliance is by aligning requirements even more closely with existing cybersecurity standards like NIST SP 800—171. Many organizations may already comply with NIST 800-171 or another framework very closely aligned with it. Either way, the shift in compliance expectations has led many organizations to assess whether they have the in-house resources to manage security or if they need external support through a CMMC consultant.

Working with a Managed Security Services Provider that offers CMMC consulting services (like Rhymetec!) can help contractors meet CMMC 2.0 requirements efficiently. MSSPs take the work off your plate and help you meet your goals in the fastest time frame possible. We've helped over 1,000 organizations meet their compliance and security requirements in the fastest time frame possible.

In this article, we go over how CMMC 2.0 works, the options available for achieving compliance, and the potential advantages of working with a CMMC consultant.

What Is A CMMC Consultant, and What Do They Do?

Unless you have a fully built-out in-house cybersecurity and compliance team, CMMC can be a massive project to take on internally—taking a year or longer to meet requirements. This is where a CMMC consultant comes in.

A CMMC consultant is a cybersecurity and compliance expert who helps defense contractors meet the requirements of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0. Consultants do everything from conducting a gap assessment to see where you are versus where you need to be, developing practical strategies to achieve compliance that will fit seamlessly (and as non-disruptively as possible!) into your operations, and guiding you through the certification process in partnership with an external auditor.  

For many businesses, especially small and mid-sized contractors, understanding and implementing CMMC controls can be challenging. A CMMC consultant provides tailored, specialized knowledge to streamline the entire process, reduce your risk of non-compliance, and make big improvements to your overall security if you do not already have certain measures in place.

Do You Need A CMMC Consultant?

The best way to determine if you need a CMMC consultant is to look through the responsibilities and deliverables in the next section and assess whether or not you have the in-house capacity to fulfill all of these items. 

If you are a larger organization and already have a security team with personnel that can accomplish the necessary tasks for CMMC (A Chief Information Security Officer, Penetration Tester, Cloud Security Specialist, Vulnerability Management Analyst, etc.), you can probably do most of this on your own or with guidance from a CMMC consultant rather than full support. 

However, for smaller organizations or those without a fully developed in-house security program, engaging a CMMC consultant entails multiple benefits. 

According to A-LIGN’s 2025 Compliance Benchmark Report, 57% of government-affiliated organizations reported conducting audits specifically to meet contract requirements, up from 40% in 2024. DoD contractors and subcontractors will need to obtain certification under one of three trust levels to demonstrate that they have adequately implemented cybersecurity measures.  

Below are some questions to help you assess whether working with a consultant is the right choice. After you answer these questions and review the responsibilities and deliverables listed below in the next section, you should have a clear picture of whether or not you need a CMMC consultant:

1. Which CMMC Level Do You Need To Achieve?

The CMMC level you need depends on the type of contracts you handle:

CMMC Level 1 (Basic Cyber Hygiene) is required for contractors who only handle Federal Contract Information (FCI). Compliance is self-assessed, but security controls must still be implemented.

CMMC Level 2 (Advanced Cyber Hygiene) is required for contractors who handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Compliance requires a third-party assessment (C3PAO) every year.

CMMC Level 3 (Expert) is required for contractors who are working on high-security DoD projects. Compliance entails DoD-led audits and adherence to NIST SP 800-171 and portions of NIST SP 800-172.

If you need CMMC Level 2 or Level 3, working with a CMMC consultant can be extremely helpful, given the amount of work involved in the third-party assessment process, implementing missing security controls, and maintaining ongoing compliance. 

2. Do You Have An Internal Cybersecurity Team With Compliance Expertise?

If you have a dedicated cybersecurity and compliance team, you may be able to handle CMMC requirements internally. Even if you do have an internal team, however, a CMMC consultant can still be beneficial if:

• Your internal team is unfamiliar with NIST 800-171 and CMMC requirements.
• You need help preparing evidence for a third-party assessment.
• Your security team does not specialize in compliance or lacks the expertise to develop CMMC procedures and policies.

3. Have You Implemented a NIST 800-171 Self-Assessment?

If you need CMMC Level 2 or Level 3, you should already have a NIST 800-171 self-assessment and an SPRS score recorded. If you haven't completed this step, a CMMC consultant can guide you through the process. Additionally, if your SPRS score is low, or if you have many missing security controls, you may need a consultant to develop a remediation strategy before moving forward. 

4. Do You Need Help Implementing Technical Security Controls?

There are a range of technical security controls required by CMMC that many organizations may not have adopted yet. If your company lacks the bandwidth to deploy these measures, a CMMC consultant can provide guidance and support (or do it for you, depending on the level of support outlined in the engagement). These types of technical controls include configuring multi-factor authentication, implementing network segmentation, SIEM logging and monitoring, and vulnerability management. 

5. Are You Prepared For A Third-Party or DoD Audit?

For Levels 2 and 3, organizations have to pass an official assessment conducted by a Certified Third-Party Assessor Organization (C3PAO) or the DoD. The most common issues contractors face with these assessments are due to insufficient documentation, improperly implemented controls, or lack of audit preparation. A CMMC consultant can remediate these issues and more in advance of your assessment. 

6. Do You Need Ongoing Compliance Support?

Lastly, it's important to know that CMMC compliance requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance. You'll need to keep your certification in good standing year-round. If your organization does not have a dedicated team to handle continuous compliance, a CMMC consultant can provide long-term security and compliance management. Ongoing support can include:

• Review of your security controls
• Vulnerability scanning (and remediation as needed)
• Incident response drills 
• Log reviews and SIEM tuning.

If the answer is "yes" to multiple questions, partnering with a CMMC consultant may be a good option for your organization. 

Next, let's go over what a CMMC consultant typically accomplishes for organizations throughout the engagement. This should help give you a good idea of what to expect:

Timelines And Deliverables From A CMMC Consultanting Engagement  

A CMMC consultant provides end-to-end support to help defense contractors achieve CMMC compliance. At a high level, this process entails assessing your organization's current security posture, implementing the required controls you don't already have, developing documentation, training personnel, and preparing for the official assessment. 

Here is what this process and the deliverables will look like, in general, for an organization starting from a more basic security posture:

1. CMMC Initial Assessment - Documentation and Gap Assessment: 

• Conduct a gap assessment to assess your current CMMC maturity level.
• Review existing security documentation to determine alignment with CMMC 2.0. requirements and identify any gaps in your documentation to be addressed before certification.
• Review CUI/FCI data flows to assess how sensitive information is handled.
• Map current security controls to NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC requirements.
• Document your organization's Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) score. 
• Develop a preliminary Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) to address deficiencies.
• Estimate resource requirements for remediation.

Timeline With A CMMC Consultant: 1-2 Months 

2. Implementation of Access Control and System Security

• Configure multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all required systems.
• Implement least privilege access principles to restrict user permissions.
• Set up remote access controls and document access control procedures.
• Deploy a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution for sensitive accounts.
• Implement network segmentation and develop network diagrams.
• Deploy endpoint protection solutions.
• Configure logging and monitoring systems, including SIEM solutions.
• Set up backup solutions and document backup and recovery procedures.

Timeline With A CMMC Consultant: 1-3 Months 

3. Documentation and Policy Development

• Develop a System Security Plan (SSP) documenting security controls.
• Create an Incident Response Plan for handling security incidents.
• Establish a Disaster Recovery Plan.
• Create training documentation for security awareness and compliance.

Timeline With A CMMC Consultant: 1-2 Months 

4. Training

• Conduct security awareness training for employees.
• Develop role-specific training for personnel handling CUI/FCI.
• Run incident response drills to prepare teams for cyber threats.
• Train employees on documentation procedures.
• Hold policy review sessions.

Timeline With A CMMC Consultant:  1 Month 

5. Testing and Control Validation

• Perform internal control testing to verify compliance.
• Conduct vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to evaluate system defenses.
• Review security documentation for accuracy/completion.
• Validate processes and security controls through real-world testing.

Timeline With A CMMC Consultant: 1-2 Months 

6. C3PAO Assessment

• Conduct a final documentation review to make sure all requirements have been met.
• Validate security controls against CMMC 2.0 standards.
• Prepare teams for staff interviews conducted during the official assessment.
• Perform technical testing to confirm systems meet all requirements.

Timeline With A CMMC Consultant: 1 Month 

Ongoing Maintenance

To maintain compliance and readiness for recertification, a CMMC consultant provides ongoing support through the following:

• Monthly security control reviews to assess compliance status on an ongoing basis.
• Vulnerability scanning to identify and remediate emerging threats.
• Access reviews to ensure permissions remain properly restricted.
• Incident response testing to evaluate security team preparedness.
• Log review to monitor system activity and detect anomalies. 

Why Work With A CMMC Consultant?

Achieving compliance is not simple. There is an array of technical and procedural controls and extensive required documentation. A CMMC consultant helps businesses navigate these requirements by providing specialized expertise (at a much lower price point than building out an in-house team would cost) and reducing administrative burdens. 

Many defense contractors lack the in-house resources to manage requirements, especially as the DoD increases enforcement of cybersecurity standards. Often, for example, small defense contractors with no formal cybersecurity programs need to achieve CMMC Level 1 to continue bidding on DoD contracts. Having limited IT staff and a lack of security policies and policies can be a significant roadblock.

In this scenario, a CMMC consultant would help by starting with an initial assessment to determine the company's current security posture and documentation and, from there, develop all missing policies, procedures, and documents. Often, this includes a System Security Plan (SSP), access control policies, and an incident response plan. 

Many contractors also underestimate the complexity of CMMC and wait too long to start the process. The risk of failing an assessment can lead to contract loss and reputational damage. Working with a CMMC consultant reduces risk, streamlines implementation, strengthens your cybersecurity, and ensures you stay audit-ready year-round.

If your business relies on DoD contracts, CMMC certification isn't optional. Engaging a CMMC consultant early on in the process saves significant time and headaches down the road. 

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We’ve worked with hundreds of companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.

Interested in reading more? Check out more content on our blog.

Meeting NIS2 requirements can be complex regardless of organizational size, especially the requirements around managing third-party risks and incident response. In this article, we go over what NIS2 requires, how to avoid penalties, and how to leverage the requirements to support business growth and operations.

The NIS2 Directive represents another new requirement in an increasingly strict cybersecurity regulatory ecosystem. The law, which came into force in January of 2023, specifically impacts organizations operating in the European Union (EU). Businesses that provide essential or important services must meet the obligations or face regulatory scrutiny. 

What Is NIS2? 

NIS2 is the EU's updated cybersecurity Directive, expanding on the scope of the original NIS Directive to cover more sectors and introduce even stricter security, risk management, and reporting requirements. If your business provides services in the EU ranging from transportation, banking, healthcare, manufacturing, food production, and more, you are likely required to comply.

The Directive applies to industries including technology, finance, healthcare, energy, and transportation, as well as many digital service providers. Broadly, it requires organizations to implement risk management measures, report significant incidents within 24 hours, and effectively manage third-party risks. 

Non-compliance can result in fines of up to €10 million or 2% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. Compliance impacts not only your regulatory standing but also your contracts, customer trust, and business continuity. Building a compliance strategy early will help avoid last-minute disruptions and potential penalties. 

Who Must Comply With NIS2 Requirements?

NIS2 applies to organizations classified as essential or important entities across a variety of sectors. The Directive expands largely on the scope of the original NIS Directive, covering a broader range of industries and lowering the threshold for organizations that must comply. 

Essential entities include large organizations in critical sectors where cybersecurity failures could have widespread and serious impacts, such as: 

• Energy - Electricity suppliers, gas providers, oil companies, and district heating operators.
• Transport - Airlines, rail operators, shipping companies, and logistics providers.
• Banking - Credit institutions and financial market infrastructure providers.
• Healthcare - Hospitals, clinics, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.
• Drinking Water & Wastewater - Water supply and treatment facilities.
• Digital Infrastructure - Cloud services providers, data center operators, and domain name system (DNS) service providers. 

Important entities are medium and large businesses in sectors that are critical but do not require the same level of regulatory scrutiny. These include:

• Manufacturing - Producers of medical devices and electrical equipment.
• Food Production - Businesses that manufacture food and beverages.
• Postal and Courier Services.
• Waste Management Companies.
• Digital Service Providers - Online search engines, marketplaces, and social networking platforms.
• Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) - Businesses providing cybersecurity services to other organizations. 

It's important to note that both essential and important entities are generally defined as medium or large enterprises, meaning they have at least 50 employees or an annual turnover of €10 million or more. Smaller organizations, however, may still fall under NIS2 if they are critical to a supply chain or if they operate in a high-risk sector. 

NIS2 Requirements: What You Need To Plan For

NIS2 entails a range of security and operational requirements, with a particular emphasis on minimizing cybersecurity risks. Below is an explanation of the 5 overarching requirements and what implementing them may look like for your organization. 

1. Risk Management & Security Measures

NIS2 requires organizations to take a proactive approach to mitigate cybersecurity risks.

Security measures across areas, including network security, data protection, and system integrity, are required. Here's what this may look like in practice for your organization, particularly if you are a SaaS company:

• Implementing Access Control Measures: Access control measures such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all employees and users accessing your platform are required under NIS2. MFA means both a password and app-based token or another second form of verification are needed to log in. 
• Enabling Data Encryption Measures: Encrypt sensitive customer data both at rest and in transit. For NIS2, this includes encrypting databases and using TLS (Transport Layer Security) for all data exchanged between clients and your platform.
• Creating A Patch Management Program: Regularly update software and systems to fix vulnerabilities. Additionally, you'll need to implement an automated patching system that ensures no critical updates are missed.
• Conducting Regular Vulnerability Scanning: This requirement entails using automated tools to regularly scan your applications and infrastructure for vulnerabilities. For instance, using tools like Nessus can identify weaknesses. 

2. Incident Reporting Obligations

NIS2 mandates relatively quick reporting of cybersecurity incidents in the event they occur. As an example, if you were to experience a breach where an attacker gained access to customer data, you would be required to notify relevant authorities and affected clients within the prescribed timeframe and provide updates on the breach as it is resolved. 

In practice, setting up the incident reporting process from beginning to end will likely entail the following for your organization: 

• Creating An Incident Response Plan: Internal incident response policies that outline the exact steps to take when a breach occurs, designate a response team, and describe how you will identify the root causes of the breach are required. 
• Setting Up Incident Detection Tools: Set up monitoring systems like SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) to detect unusual activity in real-time. Tools like Splunk or Datalog track suspicious logins or data exfiltration are commonly used for this purpose.
• Making A Plan To Follow Compliance with Reporting Deadlines: Lastly, know what your process would be for reporting incidents in a timely fashion to the appropriate authorities and your affected clients.

3. Governance & Accountability 

An increasing emphasis on governance is being seen across historically gold standard cybersecurity frameworks such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) with the addition of the NIST governance function. This shift is being seen in recent laws as well, including in the case of NIS2. 

In practice, this means that cybersecurity should not be a function of just IT, but a function of corporate governance and should stem from there. Senior management is responsible for making sure that the organization meets NIS2's cybersecurity requirements and that sufficient resources are allocated. Leadership must:

• Appoint Cybersecurity Leadership: Appoint a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or designate a cybersecurity lead who will be accountable for ensuring the organization meets NIS2's requirements. 
• Ensure Employee Training is Conducted: Employees, particularly those who handle sensitive data, need to be trained in cybersecurity practices and incident reporting procedures. This often takes the form of having mandatory, recurring cybersecurity awareness sessions, phishing training for employees, and/or tabletop exercises. 
• Receive Board-Level Reporting: Senior management should regularly receive reports on cybersecurity risks and incidents, and be involved in decision-making processes related to cybersecurity investment. This can take the form of discussing the current cybersecurity posture and resource allocation at quarterly board meetings, for example. 

4. Third-Party Risk Management

NIS2 puts the obligation on businesses to manage risks posed by their third-party vendors, especially if those vendors provide business-critical services or have access to sensitive data. A third-party risk management program entails the following elements:

• Vendor Risk Assessments: A vendor risk assessment evaluates the security and compliance practices of third-party providers. This is especially important for vendors that provide services such as cloud hosting, payment processing, or customer support. These vendors and others need to be able to show they meet NIS2's security standards. 
• Third-Party Contracts: Contracts with vendors need to define their security obligations (requiring them to comply with certain security standards, report incidents within specific timeframes, and/or undergo audits of their security practices). Your contract for your cloud provider, for example, should outline measures they need to have in place, such as strong access controls and encryption. 
• Ongoing Monitoring: Continuously monitoring your vendors. For instance, regularly review their security certifications, check they are staying compliant with relevant laws or frameworks, or conduct periodic assessments. 

5. Compliance & Auditing

NIS2 requires maintaining evidence of your cybersecurity practices, with measures such as:

• Internal Audits: Periodic internal audits of security practices to ensure compliance maintenance with NIS2. Internal audits service to verify that measures like encryption and access control are functioning as intended. 
• Risk Assessment & Incident Reports Documentation: Keeping up-to-date records of risk assessments, incident reports, and audits helps meet NIS2's governance and accountability requirements. 
• External Audits: In some cases, if an organization falls within the essential or important entity categories and is subject to supervisory measures by national authorities, it may be required to undergo an external audit. Some jurisdictions may also require routine external audits for critical infrastructure or high-risk organizations. 

NIS2 Requirements: 5 High-Level Requirements

Meeting NIS2's requirements will involve a combination of technical measures, governance practices, and ongoing actions such as continuous monitoring. For organizations like SaaS startups, implementing these requirements ensures you are in compliance with the law and are well-equipped to build a secure platform that protects user data and reduces business risks. 

How NIS2 Affects Third-Party Relationships

NIS2 expands security obligations to include third-party vendors and service providers, requiring businesses to manage risks introduced by their supply chain. Practically, this means you must verify that your vendors (including cloud services providers and software vendors) meet security standards and comply with contractual requirements. 

With NIS2, due diligence with your vendors' cybersecurity practices is especially important as organizations covered by NIS2 are responsible for security incidents linked to their third parties. 

A common way to verify your vendors' security is by requesting to see evidence of their compliance with cybersecurity frameworks and laws relevant to your industry and location. Security questionnaires, audits, and contractual clauses can also be used to clarify your vendors' security practices. However you choose to accomplish this, third-party relationships need to be documented as part of your overall risk management efforts. 

Vendor agreements need to set clear security expectations, incident reporting obligations, and liability terms. Due diligence and ongoing monitoring can help identify risks before they lead to regulatory penalties or operational disruptions. 

How Do NIS2 Requirements Compare To Other Cybersecurity Regulations In Terms Of Third-Party Risk? 

NIS2 places an even stronger emphasis on third-party risk management compared to many other cybersecurity regulations. 

Here's how it compares to a few major frameworks:

NIS2 vs. NIS1

The focus on third-party risks is, in fac,t the most substantial change between NIS2 vs. NIS1. NIS1 focused more on internal security measures without expansive supply chain obligations. NIS2, however, expands on the original NIS Directive by explicitly requiring organizations to assess and manage third-party risks. 

NIS2 vs. GDPR

GDPR compliance requires third-party risk management in terms of data protection and requires organizations to have contracts with processors handling personal data. NIS2 goes a step further and requires security risk assessments, continuous monitoring, and contractual obligations for security, even for vendors that don't process personal data. 

NIS2 vs. ISO 27001

ISO 27001 includes third-party risk management as part of an overall information security management system (ISMS). However, compliance is voluntary. NIS2, meanwhile, mandates risk management practices for third parties and includes enforcement actions for non-compliance. 

NIS2 vs. DORA

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which applies to financial services organizations, actually has stricter third-party risk requirements than NIS2. DORA requires direct regulatory oversight of critical third-party providers. NIS2 requires strong vendor risk management, but an important distinction is that it does not impose direct regulatory supervision on suppliers. 

Where To Start

After you understand whether your organization is in scope and what gaps exist in your current security program, the next step is to develop a compliance plan and begin implementation (see the section above on NIS2 Requirements for what you'll need to plan for). 

A popular option for many organizations nowadays is to work with a virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) at this stage. A vCISO helps translate NIS2 requirements into a plan specifically made for your business. They provide the expertise needed to interpret requirements, assess your risks, and build a compliance roadmap, all without incurring the cost of a full-time security executive or having to build out an in-house team. 

Compliance automation tools, which automate risk assessments, track your security controls, and generate documentation, can also vastly simplify the process. Our vCISOs at Rhymetec leverage compliance automation tools on behalf of our clients while also completing all of the manual security work needed to meet requirements. 

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We've worked with over 700 companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.

Interested in reading more? Check out more content on our blog.

In this blog, we'll go over frequently asked questions about conducting a cybersecurity tabletop exercise, including how it works, why it's important for startups and SMBs, which voluntary and legal compliance requirements you need one for, and more.  

What Is a Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise?

You're sitting in a meeting with your leadership team, the IT lead, and a couple of personnel from operations. Someone kicks things off by saying, "Alright, here's the situation: You've just received an email from a threat actor claiming they've gained access to our production environment. They've encrypted customer data and are demanding a $50,000 ransom in the 48 hours. What do we do first?". 

That's a cybersecurity tabletop exercise in action. A tabletop exercise allows your team to practice handling a cybersecurity incident without the actual crisis. Your team works through a realistic scenario step by step, discussing who's responsible for what and how decisions will be made. During the exercise, gaps in your existing plan and questions you need to answer going forward will likely surface:

Who decides if the ransom should be paid? What happens if legal or PR resources are tied up? Is your team ready to handle questions from customers or regulators? 

These are the types of issues that otherwise may not come up unless you are in the middle of a real incident, but a tabletop exercise allows you to address them before they actually happen. 

These exercises enable you to see how your team will react when/if you experience a real threat, based on your specific situation: Maybe your team has a strong technical foundation but hasn't worked out all the details for responding to an attack. Or maybe you're growing quickly, and roles like security and IT are spread across multiple people who wear a lot of hats. 

Regardless of your situation, tabletop exercises strengthen your security posture by giving you a chance to run through various scenarios, fine-tune how to respond, and stress-test your existing processes. 

They also need to be conducted to meet many voluntary and legal requirements. For this reason, they're especially critical for organizations seeking to land bigger clients or meet compliance requirements like SOC 2 or ISO 27001. 

Why Do Startups and SMBs Need Tabletop Exercises? 

Let's say your startup just landed a major client. Part of the contract includes a requirement to prove you can handle a security incident without putting their data at risk (or, they simply ask to see your SOC 2 report). 

You've got your security policies written up, but when it comes to how your team would respond to a real incident, you need to make sure everyone is on the same page and that you have documented proof of your processes. 

Enter the tabletop exercise. 

Startups and SMBs often operate with lean teams, where people juggle multiple responsibilities. In a crisis, this reality can often cause confusion over who does what and how to make decisions. A cybersecurity tabletop exercise allows you to clarify responsibilities and builds confidence in your ability to respond to incidents. 

Besides disrupting your daily business operations and creating downtime, an incident like ransomware or a data breach can harm the trust of your customers and hurt your ability to grow. Knowing how you'll respond greatly reduces that risk and helps minimize the fallout. 

Compliance is another factor. Frameworks like SOC 2 require you to put your incident response policies and plan to the test, and tabletop exercises are an easy way to meet that requirement. Tabletop exercises are just as critical for startups and SMBs as they are for large enterprises. 

For startups looking to scale, being able to demonstrate that you've done this makes a big difference when building trust with investors, partners, and customers. 

Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercises and Compliance: SOC 2 and More

Under the SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria, tabletop exercises meet the incident response testing requirement of the security criteria (which is not amongst the optional criteria under SOC 2!). Criteria CC7.1 and CC7.2 require organizations to test out an incident response plan. Auditors will therefore ask to see evidence that you've actually put your plans to the test and don't simply have them written down as policies.

ISO 27001, often seen as the baseline for global security standards, also calls for incident response testing. Annex A.16.1.5 requires the periodic testing of information security incident response plans. Tabletop exercises are the simplest, most effective, and industry-standard way to satisfy this requirement. 

PCI DSS Version 4.0, which applies to organizations that handle payment card data, also includes a specific requirement for incident response testing. Noncompliance with PCI DSS can lead to fines and additional transaction fees. Requirement 12.10.2 states that companies must "test incident response procedures at least annually". Again, tabletop exercises are the most straightforward and widely accepted way to meet this requirement.

For privacy regulations like GDPR and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), there are various stipulations around the importance of having processes in place to be ready in the event of a security incident.

For instance, GDPR's Article 32 emphasizes the need for "…a process for regularly testing, assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of technical and organisational measures for ensuring the security of the processing." While tabletop exercises aren't explicitly named, CCPA has similar expectations for businesses handling sensitive consumer information. 

Putting your response to a security incident into practice through a tabletop exercise allows you to prove to auditors that you can meet these requirements. 

Enterprise clients in particular will want reassurance that you can handle incidents without putting their data at risk. Many enterprise contracts (which can be used as either an alternative or an add-on to compliance by some organizations) also include requirements for incident response testing. This can be especially important if your organization handles sensitive data or will be integrating with an enterprise client's systems.

3 Ways MSSPs Support Tabletop Exercises for Organizations

Organizations often choose to work with a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) in order to guide them through tabletop exercises. Here are three ways MSSPs offer valuable support through this process while ensuring you meet compliance requirements:

1. Crafting Realistic Scenarios For Your Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise 

Creating a scenario that makes sense for your business is critical. MSSPs can design scenarios tailored to the threats your organization is most likely to face and your compliance goals.

For example, if your company handles customer payment data and you are trying to obtain PCI DSS compliance, the exercise may focus on a ransomware attack targeting your payment processing systems. If you're in SaaS, it could take the form of a simulated compromise of user accounts.

2. Facilitating the Exercise

To conduct tabletop exercises, you need a neutral facilitator to guide the discussion and keep the team on track. A security expert (such as a Virtual CISO, vCISO) at an MSSP can take on this role, asking the right questions, tracking progress, and steering the conversation toward identifying gaps in your response plan.

Working with an outside expert allows your team to engage in the exercise without worrying about having to run it themselves. They bring an outsider's point of view, which can enable you to gain insight into areas your internal team may overlook.

3. Providing Actionable Feedback 

After the exercise, an MSSP delivers a report on what went well and what needs improvement. They can help you prioritize updates to your incident response plan and recommend additional security measures based on gaps uncovered during the exercise. They can also document the exercise for compliance audits. 

Working with an MSSP provides access to expertise, allows you to strengthen your response capabilities without pulling your internal team away from their day-to-day work, and provides deliverables you can use to demonstrate your security posture to auditors and customers. 

Getting Started: Partnering With Experts

Cybersecurity tabletop exercises can be used to meet a vast range of both legal and voluntary requirements, and having conducted them builds trust with your clients and prospects. They provide both the evidence auditors need and the confidence customers expect. 

However, startups and smaller organizations may lack the resources or internal expertise needed to effectively run cybersecurity tabletop exercises. An external expert, such as a vCISO, solves this issue and provides specialized knowledge. At Rhymetec, our vCISOs have walked dozens of organizations through their tabletop exercises and provided reports that fulfill compliance requirements.  

Check out details on our vCISO services to get started today if you are interested in conducting exercises for your organization. 

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We've worked with hundreds of companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.

About the Author

Metin Kortak has been the Chief Information Security Officer at Rhymetec since 2017. He began his career working in IT security and gained extensive knowledge of compliance and data privacy frameworks such as SOC, ISO 27001, PCI, FEDRAMP, NIST 800-53, GDPR, CCPA, HITRUST and HIPAA. Metin joined Rhymetec to build data privacy and compliance as a service offering. Under his leadership, these offerings have grown to more than 700 customers, and the company is now a leading SaaS security service provider in the industry.

Interested in reading more? Check out more content on our blog.

So, you're a quickly growing startup. One of the last things you want to be thinking about is security and compliance. You want to focus on what really matters - moving your business forward. As a small business ourselves, at Rhymetec, we understand that completely. 

But maybe you recently suffered a breach, or maybe a potential client asked you for a security questionnaire, and you realized completing one on the spot was probably not going to cut it. 

In any case, you've decided to enter the extremely interesting world of security and compliance for startups. We're going to cover the different types of cybersecurity firms that work with startups, which types of consulting engagements make the most sense for startups, and how to wade through the noise and pick a firm that will act as a partner. 

Compliance For Startups: The Maze of Acronyms & Types of Engagements 

If you're just getting into looking for a cybersecurity firm that works with startups, be warned in advance - you are going to run into a lot of acronyms. Below are some of the most common acronyms and what they mean:

AV - Anti-virus software that is used on a computer (which is also often referred to as an endpoint because why not complicate everything). 

SOC - Security Operations Center, which handles day-to-day alerts aggregated by the SIEM and other systems. 

EDR - Endpoint detection and response software that is deployed to an endpoint (since we might as well use a term that acts as both a monitoring tool to detect malicious software and also as a mechanism to contain the device or respond to potential incidents). 

SIEM - Security intelligence and event management software that serves as the brain of a security operation, pulling in logs and data from dozens of different systems to act as a single source of truth for a security program. 

ISO 27001 - An international standard for information security management systems (ISMS) that provides a framework for managing and securing sensitive information. It focuses on risk management and data protection.

GDPR - Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, enacted in 2016. GDPR requires organizations to safeguard EU consumer data and build governance processes that enable the correct handling of EU citizen data. 

SOC 2 - System Organization Controls. A voluntary compliance framework that demonstrates to potential customers that your organization has a security program with standard security controls in place. 

HIPAA - The U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. A data privacy law relating to healthcare that also includes a "Security Rule" requiring organizations to take predefined steps to secure patient data. 

CISO - The Chief Information Security Officer is the individual responsible for the security of the organization.

vCISO - A virtual Chief Information Security Officer is an outsourced CISO as a service option. This individual (or team) provides strategic security leadership, risk management, and compliance guidance and implementation without the need for a full-time, in-house executive. This option can be ideal for startups and SMBs who may not need to make a full-time hire for this role. vCISO pricing can vary widely depending on the scope of work and level of assistance you need. 

MSSP- A Managed Security Services Provider is a company that provides outsourced compliance and security services, such as threat monitoring, incident response, vulnerability management, and more, to protect clients' digital assets. 

Some of these terms may be extremely relevant to you, depending on what has sparked your interest in exploring compliance for your startup. Let's take an example: 

The Need To Build Security Into The Foundation of Your Business 

Imagine your organization has just been the victim of a significant ransomware attack. Many of your sensitive files are now published on a ransomware site, creating enormous disruption to your business. 

Many companies that find themselves in this situation panic and immediately engage the first MSSP they can find to help them recover. This is due to the fact that many organizations tend to take a siloed view of information security. 

If you are the victim of a breach, you may think you need to work with one firm. If you need compliance, you might think you need to work with a different firm, and you may also think it's only worth seeking out the right firm when there's an issue. 

This mindset could not be further from the truth. A good security firm will help with building a program that effectively addresses compliance, governance, technical controls, and incident response in a way that minimizes friction and effectively leverages people, processes, and technology to holistically reduce both the risk of security incidents and the risk of compliance violations. 

Choosing the Right Compliance Firm For Your Startup: What Are Common Red Flags To Watch Out For? 

Let's start by talking about what to look out for (and be wary of) when evaluating different potential service providers for your organization to work with:

Organizations that promise 100% risk reduction or similar vague and aspirational promises. Unfortunately, we live in a world where 100% security is not possible. These vendors are likely selling snake oil.

Service providers that start by trying to sell you something rather than understanding your needs. Security is a process and needs customization for the end client. 

Consultants who have you only speaking to sales without talking directly to the practitioners (like a vCISO) who are doing the work. Good salespeople can be extraordinarily helpful in coordinating engagements but shouldn't take the place of security expertise if you have more technical questions or concerns.

Organizations that plan all communication through email and don't set up regular engagements with you (the customers). Security should be a continuously integrated part of your business. An email a month from your "security team" won't cut it. 

Firms that cap hours. MSSPs that set strict hour limits can leave your business vulnerable if issues arise outside of the allotted time. Security needs don't follow a clock, and your provider should be able to respond effectively without arbitrary limitations.

Firms that outsource their services. Some MSSPs may outsource critical functions to third parties, leading to potential inconsistencies in quality and responsiveness. Your security provider should have a clear, direct line of accountability for all services they offer. 

Be sure to ask if they outsource any services overseas in particular, and if so, where. Outsourcing overseas can impact a vendor's control and oversight, and certain locations may have different regulations and standards around security.

5 Green Flags To Look For In Firms Providing Security & Compliance Services For Startups

Now, what types of characteristics should you look for in a firm that will help your organization succeed? 

Geographically Local Talent 

There are incredible security professionals all over the world. However, organizations have dramatically different risk profiles based on their local geography and regulatory environments. A healthcare practice in Italy has an entirely different set of laws and regulations than a medical clinic in New York. Choosing a security provider that has staff and experience in your country helps streamline the process and avoid miscommunication and knowledge gaps that may occur by trying to outsource the work. 

Strong Communication 

A reputable security services firm should be willing to join a Slack channel with you or establish another near-instant way to communicate directly between security practitioners and corporate staff. Effective communication is absolutely critical to building a great cybersecurity program. 

Experience Across Compliance For Startups And Cyber Risk Reduction

Many people view cybersecurity compliance as a tradeoff with risk reduction. You can be compliant, or you can run a "serious" security program focused on reducing risk. This is reductive and untrue. Building an information security program that also reduces risk for an organization should be the goal of every security team. 

They Ask Good Questions

What business problem are you trying to solve by working with a firm that specializes in compliance for startups? 

This is an important question that all firms should be asking their prospects. When a consultant tries to understand the business problems you are trying to solve, it improves their ability to generate positive outcomes from the engagement.

Transparent Pricing

Security programs are complex, and they can be hard to price. These facts are both true, but that doesn't mean the vendor should put that complexity on you.

Look for a vendor that is willing to provide straightforward, transparent, and honest pricing that makes sense for your organization.

Compliance For Startups: Pricing 

So, how do firms price their security offerings? There are a few different methods:

Fixed Price/Project-Based: Using this method, the vendor estimates the work that needs to be done, writes a statement of work (SOW), and quotes a single fixed price for completion of the SOW. This is often the simplest option. In some cases, vendors can split payments into quarterly or monthly. 

Flat Monthly Recurring Fee: Many vendors charge a flat monthly recurring fee, particularly for ongoing projects such as compliance maintenance, endpoint detection and response, or security operations center monitoring. This provides simplicity to the end client and avoids surprise billing. 

Hourly: Many MSSPs and security consulting vendors charge an hourly rate. While hourly can be valuable in some cases, it can also be quite risky and lead to surprise billing and contractual disagreements. 

Check out our blog post on vCISO pricing for more information on standard industry fees for security and compliance for startups.

From here, you should have a good idea of what to look for in a firm specializing in compliance for startups and be ready to start assessing vendors. As you select your MSSP or security consultant, it's important to take the time to thoroughly interview them and pick one that is right for your organization.

Lastly, it's important to work with a firm that stays on top of the latest changes in the regulatory landscape and integrates them into their service offerings. As new regulations like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) go into effect this year, you need to understand if these requirements impact your business and, if so, partner with a firm that already offers DORA Compliance Services.

If you have more specific questions, please feel free to contact our team:

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We’ve worked with hundreds of companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.

Interested in reading more? Check out more content on our blog:

• 25 Cybersecurity Memes For 2025: The Ultimate List of Security and Compliance Memes
• Cybersecurity Tabletop Exercise: A Guide For Startups and SMBs
• vCISO Pricing Breakdown: Find The Best Fit For Your Needs

Regular cybersecurity audits are the best way to ensure your business continuously meets security and compliance requirements while reaping the business benefits of investing in security. This post will go over the different types of audits, their benefits for your organization, how to prepare, and common findings to be aware of. 

For many fast-growing startups and SMBs, cybersecurity might not feel like a top priority. But with increasingly complex data regulations, rising threats, and growing client expectations, security can no longer be an afterthought, regardless of company size or industry. 

The good news is that organizations that invest in improving their security posture and undergo regular cybersecurity audits start to see a wide range of benefits, especially once they have evidence they've successfully completed their audit through a certification or a report:

Barriers are removed in their deal flows, the time spent on filling out onerous security questionnaires is eliminated, and they can get back to what really matters - moving their business forward. 

Why Cybersecurity Audits Matter For Your Organization

A cybersecurity audit is a thorough review of an organization's security posture, assessing the adequacy of protections in place to defend against cyber threats and meet regulatory requirements. You can think of an audit as a health check for your security practices, allowing you to identify potential vulnerabilities before they can lead to an actual security incident. 

Audit findings provide valuable insight into how secure your organization is and how well you are meeting any relevant requirements. Knowing how well your security practices measure up against industry standards allows you to pinpoint where improvements need to be made, and make only the changes you actually need. 

Cybersecurity audits identify vulnerabilities and show where your security measures align with or diverge from relevant frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and HIPAA. After an audit, as you enact necessary changes to address the audit's findings, you'll reduce the risk of regulatory penalties, reputational damage, and security incidents. Decision-makers can use the results of an audit to prioritize security improvements and guide their compliance efforts. 

When clients, investors, regulators, or other stakeholders expect evidence of your security controls, having third-party verification of the strength of your security posture is important. It shows that you've addressed security requirements upfront, creates confidence in your security approach, and helps meet stakeholder expectations. 

Types of Cybersecurity Audits Every Startup Should Be Aware Of

Startups should know about a few different types of cybersecurity audits:

Internal audits are when your own team or an outside consultant examines your security setup. The goal is to conduct a gap assessment and find any areas for improvement to help better prepare you for future external audits. For example, an ISO internal audit provides a way to spot weaknesses early and adjust them before your official audit for frameworks like ISO 27001 and ISO 42001.

External audits bring in a third-party auditing firm to confirm that your organization is following specific security standards such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, SOC 2, HIPAA, and more. Passing an external audit is vital if you're trying to land bigger clients or want to enter highly regulated industries. 

Penetration testing mimics real-world attacks on your systems to find potential vulnerabilities. Penetration tests give you an idea of how strong your defenses really are under pressure, and the findings help prepare you to avoid real threats:

How to Prepare For a Cybersecurity Audit 

To prepare for an audit, the first step is to take a close look at your existing policies and procedures: Are they actually being followed?

It's common for companies to write policies that look great on paper but fall short in practice. You'll want to make sure everyone on your team knows their roles, especially around access controls, data handling, and your organization's incident response policies. 

Don't neglect the tech side. Run vulnerability scans, review your logging and monitoring, and make sure your backups are up to date. Auditors will likely examine these areas regardless of which type of audit you undergo. Lastly, keep your documentation extremely organized. Auditors appreciate easily accessible and well-organized documentation. Having it ready can be the difference between a smooth audit and a chaotic scramble. 

Bonus Tip: A compliance automation tool can come in extremely handy at this stage, as it allows a single place to upload and keep track of all of your documentation. Your auditor will appreciate being able to easily access everything in one place! 

Preparing ahead of time as much as possible puts you in control of the process rather than reacting to questions or findings that may come up. Providers like Rhymetec offer internal audits and gap assessment services that are conducted before your audit, leading to fewer surprises during your official audit. 

Common Findings in Cybersecurity Audits (And How To Address Them)

Cybersecurity audits often reveal a few common recurring issues that many startups and SMBs face: 

One of the most common findings across a variety of different types of audits is weak access controls. Cybersecurity audits frequently find gaps in access control requirements, meaning that too many people have unnecessary access to sensitive data or systems. 

The fix here is straightforward: 

1. Review who has access to what.
2. Limit permissions to those who need it.
3. Implement multi-factor authentication to add a last additional layer of security to make it harder for unauthorized users to gain access. 

Another issue that often comes up is missing or outdated documentation. Auditors will expect to see things like security policies, incident response plans, and training records. If you can't provide these documents or if they're outdated, that's a red flag. 

To address this issue, you should: 

1. Create clear, up-to-date policies that reflect what's actually happening at your organization.
2. Make documentation a regular part of your operations, so you're not scrambling to pull everything together before an audit.
3. Consider using compliance automation software to organize all of your documentation for auditors in one place. 

Another common area where audits also tend to find vulnerabilities is in systems that haven't been patched or updated. 

Leaving old software as is is like leaving your door unlocked. You should be regularly updating and patching systems to close off potential entry points for attackers. Simply setting up automated reminders or systems to handle updates can be extremely helpful. 

Third-party risk management is another area that is often overlooked by organizations and comes up in audit findings. For PCI DSS audits, for example, this is one of the most common challenges our experts at Rhymetec see that organizations encounter. For many frameworks, you need to make sure your third-party vendors are also compliant. 

Finally, many audits reveal a lack of proper employee training. As noted by our experts in Rhymetec's Cybersecurity Awareness Month Tips, your people are often the first line of defense. If they're not aware of basic security practices or don't follow steps to adhere to them on a daily basis, it's a problem. 

Ongoing security awareness training and phishing training for employees help everyone in your company recognize and avoid common vectors of attack like phishing attempts.

If possible, address these common issues ahead of time for a smoother audit process. 

Cybersecurity Audits and Penetration Testing

Penetration testing is the best way to understand how well your defenses would stand up to real-world attacks. 

While not every audit requires a pen test, it's often necessary for audits tied to specific compliance frameworks like PCI DSS and certain SOC 2 reports. These audits don't just ask if you've set up your security controls - they want tangible proof that your system can actually withstand an attack. 

Penetration testing is recommended when you need more than a surface-level review of your security and need to go beyond checking boxes to meet compliance requirements; experts simulate actual cyberattacks to try to break through your defenses. Think of it as having someone attempt to lockpick your door, rather than just checking if your door is locked. 

Note: If your organization is preparing for a major compliance audit, working with clients that demand high levels of security, or going through rapid growth, a penetration test is highly recommended!

If you incorporate penetration into your regular security checks, you'll get a clear picture of how well you're protected and will be able to tackle weaknesses before they become costly problems down the line. Getting a test done annually or after major changes to your systems helps you stay ahead of emerging threats. 

Rhymetec offers a variety of penetration testing services, including: 

• Mobile application penetration testing 
• API penetration tests
• Web application penetration testing
• External network penetration tests 

Choosing The Right Partner for Your Audit

Not all auditors are created equal, so it's important to select a partner who's not only experienced but also a good fit for your company's size, structure, and industry. You need someone who understands both your industry and the specific compliance requirements you're facing. 

Audit Partner Factors To Consider

First, check out their track record. Have they worked with startups or SMBs before? It's one thing to know the rules, but another to understand the unique challenges small to midsized companies and startups face regarding security and compliance. 

Ask about their previous clients and whether they've helped similar businesses successfully meet their compliance goals. Request to see case studies from their prior engagements with companies with similar profiles as yours.

Another factor to consider is how hands-on you want your audit partner to be. Some partners take a more hands-on approach by choosing to work with select MSSPs to help you improve your security along the way, while others are more focused on just performing the audit and reporting findings.

Audit Report "Red Flags" To Look Out For

A thorough audit report gives you a roadmap for improving your security with clear steps, while a deficient one can leave you with more questions than answers. 

Plus, 69% of organizations report that the quality of compliance reports is extremely important. Your clients and stakeholders will want to see evidence of a thorough, high-quality audit. 

So, how do you tell the difference between a thorough audit report and a deficient one?

1. First, look at how the findings are communicated: 

A high-quality audit report won't just tell you that there's an issue -  it will explain where the problem is, why it matters, and how it could impact your business. Look for specifics, like which systems or processes failed, how attackers could exploit weaknesses, and what steps to take next. If your report is filled with vague statements or broad recommendations without context specific to your organization, that's a sign it's not as thorough as it should be.

2. A high-quality report will also show you how issues across different areas are connected: 

If weak access controls, for example, show up in multiple places - whether in your cloud setup, employee accounts, or vendor portals - a good report will explain how these issues are linked. A deficient report might mention them individually without showing the bigger picture.

3. Findings on your documentation is another area where a thorough report stands out from a deficient one: 

A high-quality report points out exactly where your policies or training records are lacking and provides actionable steps to fix them. If your report glosses over missing documentation or doesn't dig into whether your policies match actual practices, you're likely looking at a surface-level, boilerplate review rather than a meaningful and tailored audit.

4. Finally, a quality report doesn't simply list issues but will categorize them based on their severity and urgency: 

This helps guide you on which areas to focus on first. A deficient report may give you a laundry list of issues but won't help you understand which ones pose the most immediate threat. 

In short, a thorough audit report provides clarity, context, and a plan. A deficient one leaves you guessing and unsure of how to proceed and may not hold up under scrutiny from your customers and stakeholders. 

How Working With An MSSP Simplifies Cybersecurity Audits

Partnering with a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) can take a lot of stress out of cybersecurity audits. An MSSP handles much of the ongoing work for you, so when it's time for your audit, you're not rushing to get everything in order. 

With continuous monitoring, regular updates, and fully managed compliance services, an MSSP ensures that your security posture stays audit-ready all year round. For example, if your business needs to meet standards like PCI DSS or ISO 27001, an MSSP can keep your policies and security controls aligned with the latest requirements and make sure you're up-to-date on your recurring audits. 

Working with an experienced MSSP is the best way to minimize the risk of non-compliance and saves your internal team from having to devote time to it themselves. When you work with an MSSP, you're essentially outsourcing the complex, technical aspects of security to a team that specializes in it, freeing up your business to focus on growth while staying secure and compliant. 

About Rhymetec

Our mission is to make cutting-edge cybersecurity available to SaaS companies and startups. We’ve worked with hundreds of companies to provide practical security solutions tailored to their needs, enabling them to be secure and compliant while balancing security with budget. We enable our clients to outsource the complexity of security and focus on what really matters – their business. Contact us today to get started.