Sum IT Up: CMMC News Roundup

Rachel Tenney was working in counterintelligence and insider risk at Honeywell when she raised cybersecurity concerns involving sensitive defense technology. Years later, her False Claims Act case ended in a $2 million settlement.

In this episode, Rachel joins us to tell the story from her perspective: SolarWinds, raising concerns inside Honeywell, becoming a relator, the years-long government investigation, and what security practitioners, CISOs and defense contractors can learn from her experience.
Settlement: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/honeywell-aerospace-inc-agrees-pay-over-2m-settle-false-claims-act-allegations-failing
Solarwinds (GAO): https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104746

Speak With Our Team: https://summit7.us/contact



CMMC may be on hold, but cybersecurity rulemaking isn't. We break down five major requirements defense contractors need to watch, including the FAR CUI rule, CIRCIA, DFARS 252.204-7012 updates, CMMC 3.0, and post-quantum cryptography.



FAR CUI Proposed Rule: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2026-12559/p-116



FAR CUI pod: https://youtu.be/l7BHnTdD9yM?si=7LQJ9LDup4LoJaCr



CIRCIA: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/CISA-2022-0010



CIRCIA pod: https://youtu.be/bvwnNSpDZgU?si=PvyO3JaXJJFWJFRi



CMMC 3.0: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202510&RIN=0790-AM01



DFARS 7012: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202510&RIN=0750-AM24



PQC: https://youtu.be/6zqaXGhP7SE?si=jefs2Pbjm_sPknnV

Speak With Our Team: https://summit7.us/contact



DoD already solved the problem of CMMC requiring NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 while other cybersecurity requirements moved to Rev. 3. Then it suspended CMMC Phase 2.



Now the FAR CUI rule is approaching with Rev. 3, CMMC remains tied to Rev. 2, and defense contractors could once again find themselves juggling different cybersecurity baselines for the same data. We break down how DoD got here, the options for fixing it, and why CMMC reform could make the problem even more complicated.



Crisis Averted (2024): https://youtu.be/voziZRAMvv4?si=LLlm4VUmBR-G3hno



Phase 2 Suspension: https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4542329/forging-the-arsenal-of-freedom-department-of-war-suspends-cmmc-phase-ii-require/



Unified Agenda: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202510&RIN=0790-AM01



DoD CIO (Feb 2026): https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dow-cio_ot-cyber-cybersecurity-activity-7433151492745879552-b_It

Speak With Our Team: https://summit7.us/contact



DoD suspended CMMC Phase 2 amid concerns about cost and burden on small businesses. Now it is hoping those same contractors will embrace cybersecurity practices that are broader, more complex, and potentially more expensive than their existing requirements.



We break down DoD's remarkable explanation for its “Brilliant at the Basics” campaign, the push toward phishing-resistant MFA and broader operational technology security, and NDIA survey data showing what defense contractors already spend implementing and maintaining NIST SP 800-171 and how many lack the resources to manage those requirements.



Will the result of the CMMC Review be a more expensive cybersecurity baseline with less assurance that it is actually being implemented?



Register for Summit 7 Live: https://www.summit7.us/s7live



National Defense Magazine: https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2026/8/25/new-cyber-campaign-contradicts-cmmc-pause-expert-says



Brilliant at the Basics: https://dowcio.war.gov/BrilliantBasics/



Phishing resistant MFA: https://youtu.be/7aMxKNNlOxo?si=zX7Iri6uV0uVBJLJ



DIBCAC Top 10: https://summit7.us/blog/tools-to-take-on-nist-800-171



2019 DoD IG Report: https://www.dodig.mil/reports.html/Article/1916036/audit-of-protection-of-dod-controlled-unclassified-information-on-contractor-ow/

Speak With Our Team: https://summit7.us/contact



Everyone says CMMC has an assessor shortage.



The July numbers tell a different story.



We break down the latest CMMC ecosystem data, DoD's own demand estimates, and why the real bottleneck is contractor readiness, not assessment capacity.



Register for Summit 7 Live: https://www.summit7.us/s7live



Cyber AB Town Hall: https://cyberab.org/News-Events/Town-Hall



DoD Capacity Estimates: https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-22905/p-1240