PRESS RELEASE

SALEM, MA (March 23, 2021) – Steel Root, a leading cybersecurity services firm that specializes in compliance for the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, announces that they have partnered with Zscaler, Inc. to address the challenges defense contractors are faced with as they prepare for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC).

CMMC will impact an estimated 300,000 defense contractors over the next five years, and most are eager to understand what is required and how they can prepare. Although requirements for safeguarding Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) already exist under DFARS 252.204-7012, to win new contracts, contractors will no longer be able to attest to their own compliance and will be subject to third-party assessment and certification. CMMC will be required on all new DoD contracts, with a phased rollout that is already in motion.

Said Steel Root Managing Partner, Mike Nestor, “We are thrilled to partner and collaborate with Zscaler on this effort. Zscaler is a disruptive force in cloud-based security and has been validated year over year as the only leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Secure Web Gateways. When the FedRAMP authorization for Zscaler Internet Access was announced in 2020, we immediately recognized the solution as a required component in the cloud-native systems we design and implement. It’s the only zero trust secure access solution in the market that can meet our clients’ compliance requirements.”

With the rise in work-from-anywhere policies and adoption of cloud services, government contractors face new challenges in securing their systems to federal standards. Zscaler’s solutions command a leading spot in the fast-growing Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) market, technologies that leverage zero trust principles to secure users connecting to company resources from anywhere. Zscaler is the only SASE solution provider that can support Defense industry requirements such as FIPS 140-2 validated cryptography and FedRAMP authorization for cloud services.

“Zscaler is excited about the opportunity to support the defense industrial base community throughout their secure transformation journey to become CMMC certified.  Partners like Steel Root who recognize the importance of a cloud-first, future-ready strategy and can provide both guidance and implementation services are proving to be very impactful for defense contractors as they prepare for CMMC,” Drew Schnabel, Vice President, Federal at Zscaler. “This partnership is a testament of our commitment to providing the most secure cloud-based security services on the planet for our government customers.”  

ABOUT STEEL ROOT

Steel Root is a national leader in helping U.S. government and defense contractors meet cybersecurity and compliance requirements under CMMC, DFARS, and other federal standards. Specializing in the design and implementation of cloud-native systems purpose-built for meeting DoD compliance requirements, Steel Root provides expert guidance and managed IT services to help companies in the U.S. Defense Industrial Base build cybersecurity maturity.