CMMC Phase 2 Is Paused—Your Cybersecurity Efforts Shouldn't Be

On July 13, 2026, the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced a temporary suspension of CMMC Phase 2 requirements while launching a 60-day review of the program under a newly appointed Task Force. Although the announcement has understandably created uncertainty across the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), organizations should recognize that this is a review of the certification program—not a rollback of cybersecurity requirements.

For defense contractors, the message is clear: the expectation to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) has not changed. This temporary pause provides an opportunity to strengthen your cybersecurity posture and prepare for what will almost certainly be the next phase of CMMC implementation.

What Has Changed?

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If your company handles Department of Defense contracts, CMMC for defense contractors isn't optional; it's the price of admission. The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program represents a fundamental shift in how the DoD verifies that its supply chain partners actually protect sensitive information. Gone are the days of self-attestation without consequence. Now, third-party assessors will verify your security controls, and falling short means losing contract eligibility.

Key Insights: CMMC for Defense Contractors

• Mandatory Requirement: The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is now the price of admission for Department of Defense (DoD) contracts, replacing self-attestation with mandatory third-party assessments (C3PAOs) to verify security controls.
• Core Standard: CMMC Level 2, which applies to the majority of contractors handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), requires the implementation of all 110 security controls specified in NIST 800-171.
• Urgent Timeline: CMMC compliance is mandatory for all new DoD solicitations beginning in 2026. Achieving readiness typically takes 12 to 18 months, highlighting the urgency to begin the compliance journey.

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As organizations continue to navigate AI initiatives, cyber resilience challenges, cloud modernization, and growing data demands, staying ahead of technology trends has never been more important. That's why we're encouraging our customers to attend Pure Accelerate 2026, Everpure’s (formerly Pure Storage) premier customer event taking place June 16–18 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Pure Accelerate 2026 offers a unique opportunity to learn directly from Everpure executives, product experts, industry leaders, and fellow customers who are solving today's most complex IT challenges. Whether you're responsible for infrastructure, operations, security, cloud strategy, or executive technology leadership, the event delivers valuable insights that can help shape your organization's future.

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Meeting CMMC 2.0 requirements isn't something you can improvise six weeks before a contract deadline. Defense contractors who handle controlled unclassified information (CUI) are subject to a formal set of cybersecurity obligations that now carry real teeth — third-party audits, affirmations, and eventually mandatory inclusion in DoD contracts under DFARS 7012 and its successor clauses. This guide breaks down exactly what you need to do: the controls, the documentation, the technical work, and the assessment process — organized so an IT director or CISO can use it as a working roadmap.

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The IT director at a 220-person defense supplier walks into a Wednesday afternoon budget meeting with a question her CFO has asked twice already: "If we want to give Copilot to 50 of our engineers in GCC High, what does that actually cost us this year?" She opens the Microsoft licensing page, scans through commercial Copilot pricing, and quickly realizes none of those numbers apply to her environment. GCC High licensing is not on the public price list. Copilot in GCC High requires prerequisite licenses she has not budgeted for. Copilot Studio adds another line item nobody has scoped. By the end of the meeting, the CFO has approved nothing because nobody can answer the simple question of cost.

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Program managers keep asking their leadership when they can use Copilot to summarize contract documents. What do I tell them?

The IT team has been holding the line for two years with a clear answer: not yet, not for anything that touches Controlled Unclassified Information. That answer is no longer current.

Microsoft 365 Copilot reached general availability in GCC High in December 2025, and the question has shifted from "is it available?" to "how do we deploy it without breaking our CMMC posture?"

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A program manager at a mid-sized defense contractor asks a simple question: "Can we use Copilot to summarize meeting notes about our Navy contract?" The IT director pauses. The contract references ITAR-controlled technical data. The company uses Microsoft 365 Commercial. The answer is no, not today, and the path to yes is longer than anyone wants to hear.

This scene plays out across the Defense Industrial Base every week. The pressure to adopt AI is real. So is the regulatory wall that separates commercial Microsoft 365 from environments allowed to touch Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Bridging the two is what Microsoft 365 Copilot deployment in GCC High readiness services are designed to do.

What GCC High Copilot Readiness Services Actually Cover

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It’s a priority for Daymark and its employees to give back to the local community. The food pantry in Burlington, Massachusetts, espouses “People Helping People,” and that’s exactly what Daymark employees did last month to assist in making sure the families in Burlington have enough food and essential supplies as winter arrives. The employee-driven Daymark food drive resulted in multiple carloads of food being donated to those with the greatest needs.

 The pantry serves between 150 and 200 Burlington families per month, or around 550 people. 40 percent are children, and 15 percent are seniors. The pantry has more than 200 volunteers and operates as a drive-thru, where food is largely custom-packed while families wait in their cars. Each family is asked a list of questions about their food preferences for the week. This list guides the volunteers as they custom pack the food from what is available at any given time and within family size allocations.

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Teachers everywhere demonstrate their unwavering dedication to educate the next generation in countless ways. Selflessly going above and beyond on a daily basis, year after year, frequently without acknowledgment or adequate compensation. One of the ways many teachers support their students is by spending their own money to ensure their students have the school supplies they need to learn.

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