Managed IT and Cybersecurity for Defense Contractors
Most people shopping for IT services for defense contractors already know that Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) come with strings attached. Cyber Husky is a managed IT and cybersecurity company that supports primes and subs across the US. Our team runs your everyday IT, looks after Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure Government, and watches things 24/7. CMMC Certified Professionals are on staff.
Defense Contractors Need IT That Holds Up to Prime and DoD Scrutiny
Read your contracts closely and you’ll find the security controls already spelled out. Odds are your prime will ask about them before DoD ever does. Not many IT shops can keep CUI inside a boundary you can actually draw on a diagram, or produce the proof an assessor expects.
So when someone goes looking for IT support for defense contractors, they usually aren’t after a fancier help desk. Most of the tickets are pretty boring. A new hire needs a laptop, someone got locked out, Outlook is acting like Outlook. Once CUI is involved, though, how each one gets set up, logged and recorded suddenly matters.
Your Contracts Already Set the Security Bar
Handle FCI only? You fall under FAR 52.240-93, which most people still know as FAR 52.204-21. It lists 15 basic safeguarding requirements, like controlling who can sign in and keeping antivirus current.
Covered defense information is where it gets heavier. DFARS 252.204-7012 wants every one of the 110 requirements in NIST SP 800-171 in place.
On top of that you get 72-hour incident reporting, and any cloud service you use has to meet FedRAMP Moderate equivalency. Which clauses are really in your contracts is a question for your contracting officer or your attorney, not us.
Primes Are Asking Before DoD Does
Primes carry their own risk across the defense industrial base, and they pass a good chunk of it down to you in flow-down clauses. What that looks like on a Tuesday afternoon is a supplier questionnaire in your inbox, a request for your SPRS score, and someone asking exactly where your CUI lives. A muddled answer can cost you the subcontract, even when your environment is in decent shape.
What Managed IT Services for Defense Contractors Should Cover
Managed IT services for defense contractors don’t look exotic on paper, since you still need a help desk, someone minding the cloud tenants, device management and backups. What changes is that every bit of it has to stay inside the boundary your contracts define. Below is how our managed IT services handle each piece when CUI is in the mix.
Help Desk Support That Respects the CUI Boundary
Call our help desk and you get a person. Average first response is 15 to 30 minutes. That's response time, not resolution time. Routine requests are handled during business hours; if the business is down, we're on it 24/7. Our techs know which users and systems are in scope, so a quick password reset never moves CUI somewhere it shouldn't go.
GCC High Managed Services and Azure Government Administration
We act as your GCC High MSP, which in practice means we're in your Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure Government tenants every day working on Entra ID, Conditional Access, multifactor authentication and audit logging. We also buy and manage your GCC High licenses through our distributor and keep them limited to the people who handle CUI.
Endpoint, Patch and Configuration Management
Every device we manage gets Microsoft Intune compliance policies, security baselines and FIPS-validated encryption. Patches go out in rings, and only during maintenance windows your ops lead is okay with. Assessors tend to ask for an asset inventory early on, so we keep ours current. Got Macs, Linux boxes, VMware or a server in a closet? We handle those too.
Backup and Recovery Inside the Boundary
CUI backups stay in compliant services and regions. We run test restores on a schedule and hang on to the results, so if a prime or an assessor asks whether you can actually recover, you've got something better than a shrug to show them.
Cybersecurity Services for Defense Contractors: Monitor, Respond and Report
Good cybersecurity services for defense contractors boil down to watching the environment all day and night, stepping in quickly when something looks wrong, and keeping notes thorough enough that you could hand them to DoD. That’s the bar we hold our managed security for defense contractors to.
24/7 MDR and MXDR With a Human-Staffed SOC
Our managed detection and response covers your endpoints and Microsoft 365, and if you've got workloads in Azure, MXDR for Azure layers Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel on top. The SOC behind it is staffed by people around the clock, every day of the year, and each incident we remediate ends with an after-action report.
DFARS 7012 Incident Reporting Readiness
Say something happens. DFARS 252.204-7012 gives you 72 hours from discovery to report it to DoD through DIBNet, and you can't even file without a DoD-approved medium assurance certificate, so get one now. You also need to hold on to images of the affected systems for at least 90 days. Our after-action reports, plus an incident response plan you've actually practiced, mean you're not scrambling for a timeline while the clock runs.
Vulnerability Management That Feeds Your POA&M
Our scanners run all the time, looking for missing patches and settings that shouldn't be there. We rank what they find, keep after each item until it's fixed, and write it down when it is. Your POA&M gets shorter, with proof behind every line that drops off. There's more on our vulnerability management page.
CMMC Level 1 and Level 2 Self-Assessments: What You Need in Place
Touch only FCI? That’s a CMMC Level 1 self-assessment. Handle CUI on a contract that calls for self-assessment? Then it’s CMMC Level 2, measured against NIST SP 800-171. You’ll post to SPRS and sign an annual affirmation either way, and neither one means much if the controls aren’t really running.
Third-party certification dates have moved around a few times, but the self-assessment rules are in force right now. The DoD CIO CMMC program page spells out each level if you want the official version.
| Requirement | Who it applies to | What it requires | How Cyber Husky helps |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMMC Level 1 (Self)FAR 52.240-93 (formerly FAR 52.204-21) | Contractors that handle FCI | 15 basic safeguarding requirements. A CMMC Level 1 self assessment every year, with results and an annual affirmation posted in SPRS. | We run the controls (access, MFA, patching, malware protection) and keep evidence ready. |
| CMMC Level 2 (Self)NIST SP 800-171 | Contractors that handle CUI where the contract designates self-assessment | A CMMC Level 2 self assessment against all 110 requirements, score posted in SPRS, repeated at least every 3 years, plus an annual affirmation by a senior company official. | We run the controls daily, keep evidence current and work down POA&M items. |
| DFARS 252.204-7012 | Contractors and subcontractors handling covered defense information | NIST SP 800-171, 72-hour incident reporting through DIBNet, 90-day image preservation, FedRAMP Moderate equivalent cloud. | 24/7 monitoring, incident response support, log retention, and GCC High or Azure Government environments. |
| SPRS score and annual affirmation | Every contractor with a CMMC self-assessment requirement | A current score in SPRS and a yearly affirmation that controls are still in place. Inaccurate entries can create False Claims Act exposure. | Monthly reporting, so the person signing knows what they are attesting to. |
Managed IT keeps the controls running between assessments. The paperwork side belongs to our CMMC compliance consulting team, which handles CMMC readiness: running the self-assessment, writing your System Security Plan and POA&M, and helping you work out your score and improve SPRS score results with fixes you can document. Heads up that government-led Medium and High assessments moved to DFARS 252.240-7997 (formerly DFARS 252.204-7020). If you want somewhere to start, our CMMC compliance checklist is a decent first read.
GCC High Migration, CUI Enclave Solutions and Keeping the Rest of the Business Out of Scope
Think of an enclave as a fence. CUI goes inside it, along with the people and systems that touch it, and everything outside stays out of assessment scope. For most companies that means a smaller, cheaper area to lock down.
Building an Enclave Around Your Data
Most CUI enclave solutions we build use Microsoft 365 GCC High, Azure Government, or Azure Virtual Desktop running in a GCC High tenant. The engineers, program managers and contracts staff who work with CUI log in there to do it.
Moving to GCC High Without Guesswork
A GCC High migration is a project we scope before it starts, covering tenant setup, mailbox and file moves, Intune enrollment and Conditional Access. Our GCC High migration services cover Azure Government workloads as well. Not every contractor needs GCC High. It depends on your data (ITAR or other export-controlled data changes the picture) and on what your contracts say. We sort that out before anyone buys a single license.
Where CMMC Compliance Consulting Fits
This page is about running and protecting your environment, day in and day out. CMMC compliance consulting is the other half: scoping, a gap assessment against NIST SP 800-171, your System Security Plan and POA&M, and getting ready for an assessment.
Plenty of our clients use both, from the same team. When the people writing the documentation also run the systems, the paperwork matches reality. Consulting decides what needs to be true. As a CMMC managed service provider, we keep it true, month after month. Our NIST 800-171 compliance services and DFARS compliance services live on the consulting side.
Managed IT for Small and Mid-Sized Defense Contractors
Most contractors we work with have somewhere between 5 and 300 users and nobody whose full-time job is security. A lot of defense subcontractors are manufacturers or engineering firms. We support defense subcontractors all over the country, with on-site help when it’s needed. Whether you need an MSP for defense contractors or managed IT for government contractors in general, there are two ways we can work together.
Fully Managed IT for Contractors Without an IT Team
Fully managed IT is built for contractors with 5 to 300 users, and it covers help desk, monitoring, security, backups and on-site visits for one flat monthly price that doesn't creep. Anything bigger than about 20 hours of work, a move to GCC High being the usual example, gets scoped and quoted before we start.
Co-Managed IT and Security for Contractors With Internal IT
Already have an IT person or a small team? Most larger contractors go co-managed. We bring the GCC High depth, SOC coverage and documentation habits that are hard to hire for. Your team stays in charge of priorities and the day-to-day calls.
How Cyber Husky Works With Defense Contractors
First we figure out scope. Then we fix what matters most. Most contractors are fully onboarded in 2 to 4 weeks, and we deal with your current provider for you.
Confirm Scope and Current State
We map out what data you have (FCI, CUI or both), where it's stored, who touches it, and your current SPRS score if you've posted one.
Stabilize, Migrate and Close Gaps
Onboarding for managed IT takes 2 to 4 weeks. On your end, that's usually 3 or 4 short meetings. A move to GCC High or an enclave build is scoped and quoted on its own.
Operate and Keep Evidence Current
From there we handle monitoring, patching and access reviews. We meet monthly for business reviews (MBRs), plan each quarter with a vCTO, and help you get ready for annual affirmations. Need security leadership as well? Our vCISO services cover it.
Why Defense Contractors Work With Cyber Husky
Why do defense contractors pick us? Mostly because one accountable team handles their IT, security and compliance evidence, and that team has already done this work in GCC High and Azure Government. It works the same whether you need IT services for government contractors across the whole company or just a single enclave.
- CMMC Certified Professionals on staff
- An internal security program aligned to NIST SP 800-171
- Microsoft Solutions Partner in Security, Infrastructure, Modern Work, and Data & AI
- One accountable partner for IT, security and compliance documentation
- Flat monthly pricing, and we have never lost a managed IT client to a competitor
Recent project work:
- Migrated a defense contractor from commercial Microsoft 365 and Azure into GCC High and Azure Government to meet CMMC requirements, including Intune and Autopilot for managed devices.
- Rebuilt a commercial SaaS platform in Azure Government with hub-and-spoke networking, Azure Firewall, WAF and private endpoints for federal clients.
- Build and maintain CUI enclaves on Azure Virtual Desktop in GCC High for NtelSec, a provider of CMMC-compliant environments.
“Cyber Husky took on the complex task of rebuilding our entire commercial Azure footprint inside Azure Government Cloud ― and delivered beyond expectations.”
— Tom Setzer, Chief Technology Officer
Talk to Cyber Husky About IT for Your Defense Contracts
Your next step is a scoping call. We’ll talk through your contracts, the data you handle and what your environment looks like today. To get started, contact Cyber Husky online or call (843) 308-3084.
FAQs
What IT services do defense contractors need?
Defense contractors need help desk support, Microsoft 365 or GCC High administration, device and patch management, backups, and cybersecurity for defense contractors that includes 24/7 monitoring and incident response. Because FAR and DFARS clauses set specific controls, the IT also has to produce evidence. Managed IT services for defense contractors combine daily support with the logging, documentation and reporting that primes and DoD expect.
What CMMC requirements apply to us right now?
If you handle FCI, you need a CMMC Level 1 self-assessment every year against 15 basic safeguarding requirements. If you handle CUI and your contract designates it, you need a Level 2 self-assessment against the 110 requirements in NIST SP 800-171, repeated at least every 3 years. Both require an SPRS entry and an annual affirmation, and DFARS 252.204-7012 still applies to covered defense information.
Do we need Microsoft 365 GCC High?
It depends on your data and your contracts. GCC High is a common choice for CUI and ITAR data because Microsoft contractually supports DFARS 252.204-7012 requirements there, including FedRAMP Moderate equivalency and incident reporting. Some contractors that only handle FCI don't need it. We review what you handle and what your contracts require before you buy licenses.
Can you manage our existing GCC High tenant?
Yes. We take over administration of existing Microsoft 365 GCC High and Azure Government tenants, including Entra ID, Conditional Access, Intune, licensing and audit logging. We start by reviewing the current configuration against NIST SP 800-171, document what we find and fix gaps in priority order, so nothing changes in your environment without a record.
How does a managed IT provider help with DFARS 7012 incident reporting?
DFARS 252.204-7012 requires reporting cyber incidents to DoD through DIBNet within 72 hours and preserving images of affected systems for at least 90 days. A managed IT provider monitors around the clock, contains the incident, preserves logs and images, and delivers an after-action report with the timeline. You still submit the report, but you have the facts to do it on time.
Are you a C3PAO?
No. Cyber Husky is not a C3PAO. We have CMMC Certified Professionals on staff who help contractors prepare, implement controls and keep evidence current. C3PAOs are authorized organizations that perform independent CMMC assessments. The two roles are kept separate, so the organization that helps you prepare is never the one that assesses you.
Can you work with our internal IT team or existing compliance consultant?
Yes. Many contractors use co-managed IT, where your internal team keeps control and we add GCC High expertise, 24/7 SOC coverage and documentation. If you already work with a compliance consultant, we implement and operate the controls they define and give them the evidence they need. One shared plan keeps your System Security Plan matched to reality.
How long does it take to switch our IT to Cyber Husky?
Managed IT onboarding usually takes 2 to 4 weeks, depending on company size. We manage the handoff from your current provider, and your team typically needs 3 or 4 short meetings. A move to GCC High or an enclave build is a separate project, scoped and quoted up front and scheduled around your contract deadlines.