Checklist
Government Contractor Startup Checklist
What to put in place before your first federal award creates security obligations you cannot meet.
Intermediate
40 min
Free
FAR
DFARS
Published · v1.0.0 · 2026-08-01
Quick reference
Compliance Acronyms — One Page
The acronyms that appear in contracts and assessments, defined in one line each.
- Intended audience
- Everyone
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Estimated time
- 5 minutes
- Access
- Free
CMMC
NIST SP 800-171
FAR
DFARS
NIST CSF
All industries
Version v1.0.0 · Last reviewed 2026-08-01 · Document owner: ComplianceAnvil Content Team
What you will be able to do
- Correctly expand and define the acronyms most commonly used in federal contracting and cybersecurity assessments.
- Distinguish between framework/standard acronyms (NIST CSF, NIST SP 800-171) and contracting terms (FAR, DFARS, FCI, CUI).
- Identify which program documents (SSP, POA&M, IRP) are typically required as evidence during an assessment.
Frameworks and standards
- NIST — National Institute of Standards and Technology, publisher of widely used security standards.
- NIST CSF — Cybersecurity Framework: a risk-based structure of functions such as identify, protect, detect, respond, recover.
- NIST SP 800-171 — Requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in non-federal systems.
- NIST SP 800-53 — Broad control catalog used primarily by federal systems.
- CIS Controls — Prioritized, prescriptive baseline of security practices.
- ISO 27001 — International standard for an information security management system.
- SOC 2 — Audit report on controls relevant to security, availability, and confidentiality.
Contracting terms
- CMMC — Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, the Department of Defense verification program.
- FAR — Federal Acquisition Regulation, the baseline federal contracting rules.
- DFARS — Defense supplement to the FAR.
- FCI — Federal Contract Information: information not for public release, generated or received under a contract.
- CUI — Controlled Unclassified Information: unclassified information that still requires safeguarding.
Program documents
- SSP — System Security Plan describing the system and control implementation.
- POA&M — Plan of Action and Milestones tracking gaps and remediation.
- IRP — Incident Response Plan.
- AUP — Acceptable Use Policy.
- DPA — Data Processing Agreement with a vendor.
Key takeaways
- FCI and CUI are distinct categories of information, and the safeguarding requirements that apply depend on which category a given system or document falls under.
- CMMC, FAR, and DFARS are related but different: FAR sets baseline federal contracting rules, DFARS adds Department of Defense-specific clauses, and CMMC is the DoD's verification program for cybersecurity requirements.
- An SSP and a POA&M serve different purposes: the SSP describes how controls are implemented, while the POA&M tracks known gaps and their remediation timeline.
Sources
Written from these public, authoritative publications. ComplianceAnvil paraphrases and summarizes them; it does not reproduce copyrighted control text.
NIST · Revision 3
SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
DoD Chief Information Officer
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
Acquisition.gov
FAR 52.204-21, Basic Safeguarding of Covered Contractor Information Systems(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
National Archives (ISOO)
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) Registry(opens in a new tab)Link last confirmed 2026-02-01
How this was written and reviewed
Published
- Author
- ComplianceAnvil Editorial Team
- Technical reviewer
- ComplianceAnvil Technical Review Board
- Jurisdiction
- United States (federal)
- First published
- 2026-08-01
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-01
- Next review due
- 2027-08-01
Version v1.0.0 · Document owner: ComplianceAnvil Content Team
Important
This resource is educational readiness material. ComplianceAnvil is not a certification authority, assessor, or law firm, and this content is not legal advice or a compliance assessment.
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Put this into practice
Resources tell you what good looks like. A Program Pack does the work with you — generated documentation, tracked controls, training, and evidence in one workspace.