CMMC Is No Longer “Future Talk”—Why Lockheed Martin’s Ultimatum Means You Must Act Now

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) has officially moved from the regulatory horizon to today’s business reality. When the Department of Defense published its final CMMC Program Rule in the Federal Register last fall—and made it effective on December 16, 2024—the requirement for every defense contractor and subcontractor to meet an assigned CMMC level became federal law, not a policy draft. federalregister.gov

But the DoD timetable is only half the story. Prime contractors are already imposing their own, far shorter deadlines to protect their supply chains. On June 30, 2025, Lockheed Martin notified its suppliers that CMMC Level 2 compliance is now a non-negotiable expectation. In plain language, the company warned that it is “reaching out to all suppliers whose latest self-assessment is indicative of unmet cyber requirements,” and that continued business hinges on having all NIST 800-171 controls fully in place.

Source: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/suppliers/news/features/2025/cybersecurity-program-rule.html

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Why Prime-Driven Deadlines Matter More Than the DoD Clock

Lockheed Martin’s directive is a watershed moment:

• Flow-down enforcement has begun. Because primes are liable for their subcontractors’ security gaps, they are tightening contracts faster than the government’s phased roll-out.

• Supplier triage is underway. Companies with weak scores in Exostar or an outdated Cybersecurity Compliance and Risk Assessment (CCRA) form are already fielding calls—and in some cases, facing order pauses—until they can prove meaningful progress. Ty7u89387

• Market access will shrink quickly. Boeing, RTX, Northrop Grumman, and other Tier-1 integrators historically follow each other’s lead. Once one prime sets a hard line, the rest usually follow to avoid being the “soft target.”

The Business Risks of Waiting

Ignoring these prime-imposed milestones now carries immediate consequences:

• Disqualification from bids that state “CMMC Level 2 at award.”

• Loss of preferred-supplier status or outright removal from approved-vendor lists.

• Escalating remediation costs as the limited pool of Certified Third-Party Assessor Organizations (C3PAOs) fills up.

• Increased cyber-exposure—because the same controls that earn certification (multi-factor authentication, log monitoring, incident response planning) are the ones that actually stop breaches.

Why Acting Early Creates Competitive Edge

Contractors that certify this year will do more than protect current revenue—they will stand out as low-risk, high-trust partners just as primes scramble to stabilize their own compliance scorecards. Early adopters often:

• Capture sole-source or expedited awards when competitors are deemed “high risk.”

• Negotiate better terms because they remove the compliance uncertainty for the buyer.

• Avoid the surge pricing that typically accompanies last-minute assessment demand.

How Hire A Cyber Pro Can Accelerate Your Path to Certification

As a veteran-owned cybersecurity consultancy specializing in CMMC, Hire A Cyber Pro translates DoD requirements into practical, business-ready action plans:

• Scoping & Gap Analysis: Rapid workshops map where Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) live in your environment, then benchmark you against all 110 NIST 800-171 controls.

• Remediation Execution: Our engineers deploy or fine-tune the technical safeguards—MFA, secure enclaves, logging, backup hardening—while policy specialists craft the System Security Plan (SSP) and POA&M you will hand to a C3PAO.

• Mock Assessments & Audit Support: We walk you through the evidence interviews, verify artifacts, and stay at your side on assessment day to minimize findings.

• Sustainment & Continuous Monitoring: Quarterly check-ins, POA&M burn-down, and incident-response tabletop exercises keep your certificate—and your security posture—current.

Take Control of the Timeline

Prime contractors are no longer waiting for the government to force the issue. The moment they decide your cyber posture isn’t strong enough, the purchase orders—and the revenue—stop. Acting now turns CMMC from a looming threat into a strategic differentiator.

Book a discovery call with Hire A Cyber Pro today at contact@hireacyberpro.com and secure your place in the defense supply chain—before someone else does.

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