Associate Member of NCMS
Wrapping up 2020
The end of 2020 is finally here, and looking back on the challenges we all faced this year, we wish to express appreciation to our colleagues, clients, and partners; we applaud your ability to endure in times of adversity.
We wish you a healthy, safe and prosperous 2021!
On The Wire
Final CMMC Acquisition Rule Goes into Effect – the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) been officially adopted as a DoD policy, requiring all future contractors to receive third-party assessment for cybersecurity compliance. Read More
Will There Be Enough CMMC Inspectors to Certify All DoD Contractors? – ahead of the CMMC rule change earlier this month, the DoD was still struggling to partner with enough third-party assessors to enforce compliance with cybersecurity rules; how it intends to proceed remains unclear. Read More
Report Sees Perfect Storm for Insider Threats in 2021 – a new report from Forrester predicts an 8% uptick of insider threats during 2021 due to a rise in remote workers, job insecurity and increased ease of stealing company data; it recommends employee wellness investment as a countermeasure Read More
Your Security Clearance Score: How AI Could Rank Your Clearance Chances – Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking information on a tool that could automate aspects of SF-86 application review, sparking a conversation about the role AI could eventually play in the clearance process. Read More
Army to Extend Program Allowing Teleworkers to Access Classified Info – earlier this year, the U.S Army launched a pilot program granting teleworkers access to classified information. The program wrapped up in October, and now the functionality may be extended to 2,000 users. Read More
NSA Publishes List of Top Vulnerabilities Targeted by Chinese Hackers – in October, the NSA published a list of 25 vulnerabilities used by Chinese state-sponsored hacking groups to infiltrate U.S based businesses and cleared organizations. Patches are available for all 25. Read More
In Survey, Federal Execs Reveal Remote Work Challenges with Risk Mitigation – 84% of C-level federal government executives report that shifting to remote work has not reduced their productivity, suggesting that technology changes during the COVID-19 epidemic will become permanent ways of conducting business. Read More
What's Hot
Say Goodbye to JPAS and Hello to DISS . . . eventually
Editor’s Note: Just prior to clicking Send, we learned about the ongoing extension of the JPAS to DISS transition. With this in mind, we are on stand by like you and will be ready when they are!
Below is our original article:
After 12 years of waiting and a number of false starts, the DCSA is finally ready to retire the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) in favor of the Defense Information System for Security (DISS). By the end of December, support for JPAS will be officially discontinued, and those who have prepared will likely experience a smooth transition to the new system.
DISS offers a number of improvements over JPAS which make it a better system of record for continuous evaluation (CE) clearances. These include continuous workflows, role-based information access, support for documentation when filing clearance requests, better security features and much more.
Government partners who haven’t prepared need to act quickly: once the end of the year comes, anyone who hasn’t transferred their login credentials and records to DISS will be left without a database for security clearances starting on Jan. 1st of 2021. MathCraft users can breathe a sigh of relief: Access Commander will support DISS once it becomes the system of record.
Read more about the end of JPAS in our latest blog post.
Need to Know
According to a recent report by Ponemon Institute: Incidents of insider threats have increased by 47%, from 3,200 in 2018 to 4,716 in 2020. Related cost or loss due to the insider threat have surged during this same time frame from $8.76 million to $11.45 million in 2020.
For government contractors, malicious insiders – especially those with high level security clearance – are by far the most dangerous. Counterintelligence is about detecting indicators of malicious behavior and the possible outside influences by foreign actors and governments.
To learn more about the DCSA’s counterintelligence requirements and how Access Commander 4.0 can help you to meet them, visit our website.
MathCraft Security Technologies, Inc. is the leading provider of innovative software and technologies for Industrial Security professionals. Our tools are compliant with NISPOM and are available on-premises or in the cloud. Contact us today to see how our products can transform your security operations!
NCMS Endorsement/Disclaimer Statement: References to commercial products, processes, or services do not necessarily constitute an endorsement by NCMS Inc. The opinions and views expressed on this email and on any linked web sites do not necessarily reflect those of NCMS.
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