Compliance automation platform provider Secureframe Inc. today announced the launch of Secureframe Defense, an artificial intelligence-powered, end-to-end platform that helps defense industrial base contractors achieve and maintain Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification compliance.

Secureframe Defense is designed to deliver secure infrastructure deployment, AI-built System Security Plans, policies and comprehensive monitoring that DIB organizations need to achieve and maintain the certification faster, without unnecessary cost or complexity.

CMMC is a U.S. Department of Defense framework that requires defense contractors and subcontractors to implement specific cybersecurity controls to protect controlled unclassified information, or CUI. The DOD estimates nearly 80,000 organizations will ultimately require CMMC Level 2 certification, yet fewer than 800 organizations have achieved certification as of January.

Gaining the certification is not cheap, however. Many DIB organizations spend more than a year and $100,000 to $300,000 or more preparing for CMMC Level 2 certification. That’s where Secureframe Defense steps in.

“Secureframe Defense reflects everything we learned going through our own CMMC Level 2 assessment and the feedback we received from our partner Certified Third-Party Assessment Organizations about the real problems organizations face,” said founder and Chief Executive Shrav Mehta. “Our AI-powered platform can take organizations with zero infrastructure to assessment-ready in less than eight weeks.”

Secureframe Defense guides organizations through three critical stages.

Stage one is the deployment of secure CUI environments, with organizations now able to deploy a compliant enclave for handling CUI in under 30 minutes. The platform automatically configures environments such as Google Workspace or Microsoft GCC High with required CMMC controls, provisions Azure virtual desktops and applies secure device management baselines.

Stage two involves AI-driven documentation and program management, in which Secureframe’s Defense Navigator translates CMMC requirements into guided workflows. An AI engine generates tailored system security plans and policies, manages risk assessments and vendor reviews, assigns policies and delivers continuous control monitoring.

The third stage includes certification support and ongoing compliance, with an audit module that automatically compiles documentation and evidence artifacts.

According to Secureframe, the new offering reduces overall certification timelines from 12 to 18 months down to four to eight weeks, cutting readiness time significantly compared wit manual processes or point solutions.

Secureframe is a venture capital-backed startup that has raised $79 million over three rounds, including a round of $18 million in March 2021. Investors in the company include Accomplice VC, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Optum Ventures, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Gradient Ventures, Soma Capital Management, Flexport Inc., Gaingels and Impatient Ventures.

Image: Secureframe