Cybersecurity regulation is often framed as a checklist problem: A finite set of controls to be implemented, documented, and audited. In practice though, regulation functions less like a checklist and more like a mechanism that reshapes incentives, operating models, and which organizations are trusted to participate in critical ecosystems.
The Department of Defense’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is a great example of this. CMMC formalizes cybersecurity as a prerequisite for participation in the defense supply chain, resulting in a higher baseline of trust where it’s needed most.
Keyfactor’s achievement of CMMC Level 2 certification, following an independent assessment by an accredited C3PAO is about alignment – between how Keyfactor operates and the expectations placed on the customers it serves.
Why CMMC Exists (and Why Level 2 Matters)
The defense supply chain is structurally distributed. Sensitive information flows not just through prime contractors, but through thousands of subcontractors, vendors, and service providers. Historically, this created a weakest-link problem: Even if the DoD hardened its own systems, sensitive data remained exposed once it left first-party boundaries.
CMMC is an attempt to solve that problem. By standardizing cybersecurity expectations and enforcing them through independent assessments, the DoD externalizes security requirements across the ecosystem.
CMMC Level 2 is the inflection point. It requires organizations to implement and operate 110 controls aligned with NIST SP 800-171, validating their ability to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Importantly, it replaces self-assertion with third-party verification, shifting trust from claims to demonstrations.
Why This Matters for a PKI Provider
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) tends to sit below the line of sight of most compliance discussions. When it works, it’s invisible. And when it fails, it becomes all too visible. Certificates underpin device identity, workload authentication, encrypted communications, and access control, making PKI both deeply operational and deeply critical to security.
That makes PKI providers an interesting test case for CMMC. If a vendor responsible for cryptographic trust couldn’t itself meet defense-grade security requirements, the entire trust chain may become suspect.
Keyfactor’s CMMC Level 2 certification applies specifically to its federal PKI-as-a-Service (PKIaaS) product, validating that the environment responsible for issuing and managing cryptographic identities meets the same standards required of Defense Industrial Base organizations.
This matters not because compliance is rare, but because alignment is. Security requirements are only truly effective when vendors operate under the same constraints as their customers.
One of the persistent misunderstandings about frameworks like CMMC is the assumption that certification is a point-in-time accomplishment. In reality, the more meaningful shift happens earlier: when teams design systems, processes, and controls under the assumption that they will be continuously audited, not periodically reviewed.
Achieving CMMC Level 2 required Keyfactor to demonstrate:
- Operational consistency across security controls
- Documented, repeatable processes aligned to NIST SP 800-171
- Accountability mechanisms that hold up under independent scrutiny
In other words, it required treating compliance as an operating model rather than an outcome – an approach that mirrors how modern infrastructure must function using automation, policy-driven change, and resilience.
For Customers: Reduced Friction, Higher Trust
For defense contractors and service providers, compliance is usually overhead rather than a core business idea. Every additional vendor introduces potential risk, additional documentation, and more time spent validating controls.
By achieving CMMC Level 2, Keyfactor reduces that friction. Customers gain a PKI partner already operating at CMMC-aligned security levels, lower risk exposure in audits and supply chain reviews, and infrastructure designed to protect CUI by default, not as an afterthought.
This becomes increasingly important as certificate lifespans shrink and cryptographic change accelerates. Manual processes don’t scale in regulated environments; automation becomes the only viable path to sustained compliance.
CMMC, FedRAMP, and the Direction of Travel
CMMC Level 2 does not exist in isolation. It complements Keyfactor’s FedRAMP “In Process” authorization, reinforcing a broader strategy: operate in regulated environments by design, not by exception.
The direction of travel is clear. As AI-driven systems expand, cryptographic requirements evolve, and post-quantum standards move from theory to mandate, organizations will need infrastructure that can adapt without re-architecting trust from scratch.
CMMC Level 2 certification is a milestone, but its real significance lies in what it signals: A commitment to shared standards, aligned incentives, and operational rigor in environments where trust is non-negotiable.
For Keyfactor, the logic is straightforward. If digital trust is the product, then trustworthiness must be the operating principle.
