Reduce Risk and Secure Your Government Contracts
If you’re in the Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain, you may be subject to Defense Acquisition Regulations System (DFARS) / NIST SP 800-171 requirements. DFARS compliance is required of any companies that, “Process, store or transmit Controlled Unclassified Information.” Failure to comply can cause the termination of your DoD contracts.
Polaris MEP can help you determine whether you need to comply with DFARS requirements and how best to achieve compliance. This includes completion of your Security Assessment as well as creation and implementation of your System Security Plan and Plan of Action.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the manufacturing industry is the second most targeted industry based on the number of reported cyber attacks.
Pat Toth
Cybersecurity Program Manager, NIST MEP
Your Biggest Challenges Solved
Grow Sales
Market Competitiveness
Standards Compliance
How We Help
SELF-ASSESSMENT
Self-assessment of your systems’ security against the NIST SP 800-171 controls can be time consuming and challenging. We can facilitate your process, making everything simple and straightforward.
PLAN DEVELOPMENT
Polaris MEP’s DFARS specialists can make the development of your key documentation (System Security Plan and Plan of Action) painless and efficient.
POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Our policy templates can help provide you with a starting point for addressing the requirements of NIST SP 800-171 — AND can be customized to your systems and needs.
EMPLOYEE TRAINING
Once policies have been established, we provide cybersecurity awareness training for your employees.
Compliance Doesn’t Have to Be Hard
- Efficient and accurate self-assessments
- Comprehensive and protective System Security Plans
- Clear Plans of Action that close the compliance gap
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