Integrating Cmmc With Existing Cybersecurity Frameworks: A Practical Guide for 2025

The CMMC model was not created in a vacuum, it’s an answer to a very costly problem.  For years, cyberattacks have quietly siphoned billions from the U.S. economy, targeting defense contractors and exploiting weaknesses across supply chains.  According to a report by CSIS, in 2019 alone, cybercrime cost the U.S. approximately $600 billion. 

By 2026, the DoD expects all defense contracts to require some form of CMMC compliance. But achieving compliance isn’t straightforward—31% of small and medium-sized defense contractors identified CMMC as their biggest upcoming hurdle, according to a survey by PreVeil.

TL;DR

Build a Security Plan – Align CMMC with existing frameworks to streamline compliance and strengthen your cybersecurity posture. This minimizes redundant efforts and ensures long-term resilience.

Advance Your Practices – Integrate AI and automation into your processes to stay ahead of evolving threats. Taking a proactive stance on risk management reduces vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

Meet Contracting Expectations – Defense contracting officers are prioritizing partners with robust, adaptable security frameworks. Demonstrating advanced practices not only meets compliance but positions you competitively for future contracts.

What is CMMC?

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) way of making sure that contractors handling sensitive information are taking cybersecurity seriously. CMMC is a tiered framework with different levels of security requirements. Smaller contractors handling less sensitive data may only need basic protections, while those working with Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or supporting mission-critical operations will need to meet stricter standards.

By the time CMMC is fully rolled out, around 37% of the Defense Industrial Base – roughly 80,000 organizations – will need to meet Level 2 cybersecurity standards. About 1,500 companies (1%) will be held to Level 3’s stricter cybersecurity requirements.

CMMC 2.0, NIST, and other overlaps…. 

CMMC 2.0 is grounded in NIST SP 800-171. The DoD has been transparent about this – Level 2’s 110 security controls are pulled directly from NIST’s framework to protect CUI. But if you step back and look at the broader structure of CMMC, it’s hard not to notice the similarities with other established frameworks like ISO 27001 and CIS Controls.

• ISO 27001 focuses on continuous risk management and iterative improvement—principles that echo CMMC’s progressive, maturity-based model.
• CIS Controls take a practical, phased approach to cybersecurity hygiene, closely resembling the foundational requirements of CMMC Level 1.

If you’ve already invested in frameworks like ISO 27001 or CIS Controls, achieving CMMC compliance won’t mean starting over. Many of the required practices—like access management, data protection, and encryption—are already part of these frameworks.

CMMC isn’t reinventing cybersecurity; it’s reinforcing it through a defense-focused lens.

The technical backbone of CMMC

The technical controls within CMMC scale in complexity, matching the sensitivity of the information being handled. At Level 1, the focus is on locking down the basics – the cybersecurity equivalent of locking your doors at night. By Level 2, the attention shifts to protecting sensitive CUI from cyber threats, while Level 3 introduces security controls to defend against state-sponsored adversaries and advanced cyber threat actors.

Level 1 – Foundational (Basic cyber hygiene) 

Think of level 1 as the cybersecurity equivalent of locking your doors and windows before leaving the house. The focus here is on protecting Federal Contract Information (FCI) – essentially data that isn’t classified but still sensitive to the federal government. There are 15 practices in this tier, derived from Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.204-21.

The following are the technical safeguards for fundamental cybersecurity hygiene:

1. Access controls: Data and systems should only be accessible by authorised users. This could entail creating strong passwords, restricting administrator accounts, and making sure that external connections—such as remote access—are strictly controlled.
2. Identity and authentication: Each user needs to be correctly identified and verified. This is frequently where multi-factor authentication (MFA) comes in, making sure that a hacked password is insufficient to compromise a system.
3. Media protection: Before being thrown away or used again, any hard disc or USB that contains sensitive data must be thoroughly cleaned. Nobody wants to unintentionally cause sensitive data to leak because they neglected to clean their device.

Control overlap with ISO and CIS 

1. ISO 27001 A.9 and CIS Control 6 emphasize access control, aligning directly with CMMC’s approach to restricting user privileges and enforcing password policies.

Media Protection requirements mirror ISO 27001 A.8.3 and CIS Control 13, which stress secure disposal and encryption of portable devices.

Level 2 – Advanced (Protecting CUI) 

This is where things get serious. Level 2 is aligned with NIST SP 800-171 and introduces 110 controls spread across 14 domains. The goal here is to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) – data that, while not classified, could cause harm if compromised.

Here are the technical controls: 

1. Configuration management: Establish and maintain system baselines. This means having standard configurations for devices and software, controlling any changes, and ensuring systems are hardened against vulnerabilities. 
2. System and communication protection: Encrypt data in transit and at rest, monitor communications between systems, and block unauthorized traffic. Firewalls, secure communication protocols (like TLS), and intrusion detection systems come into play here.
3. System and information integrity: Continuously monitor for vulnerabilities, patch systems quickly, and actively hunt for cyber threats. If malware slips through, the system should detect and isolate it before it causes significant damage.

Control overlap with NIST, ISO and CIS 

• ISO 27001 A.12 (Operational Security) focuses heavily on configuration management and secure baselines, mirroring CMMC’s CM requirements.
• CIS Control 13 outlines encryption, firewalls, and secure communication—matching System and Communications Protection in CMMC.
• The requirement to patch systems and monitor for vulnerabilities (System and Information Integrity – SI) reflects ISO 27001’s Annex A.12.6 and CIS Control 7, both of which stress proactive threat detection and vulnerability management.

Level 3 – Expert (Countering APTs) 

Level 3 is the elite tier, tailored for organizations handling highly sensitive data and facing Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) – the kind of adversaries who won’t stop after a failed phishing attempt. They probe, adapt, and keep coming until they find a way in. Level 3 exists to stop them – or at the very least, make their job infinitely more complicated.

Here are the technical controls: 

1. Enhanced access controls: Implement dual authorization for sensitive operations. This ensures that no single individual can make critical changes without a second person approving them—a control often seen in financial institutions.
2. Advanced system and communication protection: Use segmentation and domain separation to restrict the movement of attackers within your network. If one system is compromised, the blast radius is minimized.
3. Threat hunting and monitoring: This involves dedicated teams who actively look for signs of intrusion instead of waiting for alerts to pop up. Employing AI-driven tools and behavioral analytics helps detect abnormal patterns.

Level 3 implies military-grade rigor, which is what distinguishes it from frameworks like ISO 27001, which outline these practices as part of good operational security.

Integrating with other frameworks for sanity 

Integration of CMMC with other frameworks is a way to stay sane in the face of overwhelming compliance demands. You know the feeling if you’ve ever been knee-deep in audit prep. The endless controls, spreadsheets, and evidence gathering can wear down even the most seasoned teams. It’s not just the work itself – it’s the mental toll of repeatedly covering the same ground. 

But here’s the good news – you probably are. And that’s not a bad thing. The overlap between CMMC, ISO, and CIS means you’re already further along than you might think. Once you map out the connections, the process feels less like starting from scratch and more like refining what’s already there.

Here’s why integration pays off:

Removing redundancies   

At a fundamental level, cybersecurity is about limiting access, protecting data, and monitoring systems – and every major framework hits those same notes. If you’ve already set up role-based access or encrypted sensitive files under ISO 27001’s Access Control (A.9), you’re in good shape for CMMC Level 1. Integration is about recognizing these overlaps and eliminating redundant efforts.

Making audits less painful 

Audits aren’t just stressful – they’re disruptive. Gathering documentation, chasing down evidence, and preparing for interviews distract teams from their day-to-day work. But when frameworks overlap, you can reuse documentation across multiple assessments, instead of running separate audits for ISO and CMMC, you consolidate, cutting audit fatigue in half. 

Strengthening security without burning out 

Security frameworks aren’t just about compliance – they’re about building resilience. CMMC adds a layer of defense-specific rigor, but frameworks like ISO 27001 already drive risk management and continuous improvement. Together, they create a well-rounded security posture that doesn’t just check boxes but protects your business. More importantly, integrating these frameworks helps fill gaps – what one misses, the other catches.

Compliance can feel relentless, and burnout is real. Sprinto changes that by turning compliance into a structured, automated process that’s easier to manage and scale. 

Sprinto helps by automating evidence collection, mapping controls across frameworks, and streamlining audit readiness. Instead of juggling separate systems for CMMC, ISO 27001, and CIS Controls, Sprinto creates a centralized compliance hub highlighting the overlap between frameworks, cutting down on duplicate work.

This means when you implement a control for one framework, Sprinto shows how it applies across others—saving time and reducing redundant tasks.Sprinto doesn’t stop at automation. It keeps you on track with real-time monitoring and gap analysis, ensuring you stay compliant even as requirements evolve. Sprinto generates the reports and documentation you need when audits come around, pulling directly from live data—eliminating last-minute scrambles for evidence.

The future of CMMC and other cybersecurity practices

The future of cybersecurity is shaped by Generative AI (GenAI), evolving threat landscapes, and the increasing convergence of compliance and real-world defense strategies. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, security frameworks like CMMC are just one piece of a much larger puzzle that extends beyond compliance into areas like AI-driven defense, automation, and predictive threat modeling.

GenAI is changing the game for both defenders and attackers. On one hand, security teams are leveraging AI to automate threat detection, simulate attacks, and analyze vulnerabilities at scale. However, the same technology is in the hands of adversaries. AI is already being used to craft highly personalized phishing campaigns, generate malware that adapts in real-time, and exploit vulnerabilities faster than ever before. 

The line between automated defense and automated attack is blurring. This cat-and-mouse dynamic means cybersecurity strategies must continuously evolve to defend against cybersecurity threats and anticipate how emerging technologies will reshape the cybersecurity landscape.  

Defense supply chain security will also take center stage. As organizations expand their digital ecosystems, attackers increasingly target third-party vendors and supply chain vulnerabilities. 

The future will demand not just internal resilience but ecosystem-wide cybersecurity measures.

FAQs

How does CMMC enhance incident response capabilities?

CMMC strengthens incident response capabilities by requiring contractors to implement structured processes for detecting, reporting, and mitigating breaches. These practices ensure that threats are addressed quickly, minimizing damage to national security and protecting sensitive data.

Why is the public release of CMMC guidelines important?

The public release of CMMC guidelines provides transparency and ensures that defense contractors understand the compliance process. This helps organizations align their security frameworks early, addressing critical factors like resource planning and control implementation.

How does resource allocation impact the compliance process?

Effective resource allocation is one of the most critical factors in meeting CMMC requirements. Investing in the right tools and personnel improves incident response capabilities and ensures continuous adherence to evolving standards.

What role does national security play in shaping CMMC requirements?
CMMC is designed to protect national security by securing the Defense Industrial Base (DIB). The framework emphasizes incident response and supply chain security as critical factors to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands, ensuring the U.S. maintains a technological edge.