TDNet Discover

The purpose of this case study is to develop the compliance strategies necessary to achieve and sustain Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2 compliance for employees and leadership at CounterTrade Products, Inc. For the utility of this study, the compliance strategies necessary to achieve and sustain CMMC Level 2 compliance will be generally defined as the organizational, behavioral, and technical actions needed to align cybersecurity practices with Department of Defense (DoD) requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The theory guiding this study is General Deterrence Theory (GDT) as it will explore how the perceived risk of penalties, sanctions, and compliance consequences will influence the cybersecurity behaviors and compliance decisions of organizational actors. This study will use a mixed-methods design and will be conducted at CounterTrade Products, Inc., with a purposive sample of executives, IT staff, and operations personnel. Data will be collected through security audit reviews, compliance metrics, interviews, and focus groups. Findings will be analyzed through triangulation to identify gaps and develop strategies to improve governance, training, and enforcement for sustained compliance.