Don’t Be a Guinea Pig: Why Planet Security’s 1993 Legacy is Your Secret Weapon for NIST 800-171

Let's be brutally honest: the CMMC compliance market is flooded with companies that learned cybersecurity from YouTube videos and decided to start selling "solutions" six months ago. These snake oil salesmen are everywhere, promising quick fixes and cheap shortcuts. They've never defended a network under real attack. They've never protected classified systems for federal agencies. And they sure as hell weren't securing networks when most of us were still using dial-up modems.

Planet Security has been forging unbreakable resilience since 1993.

That's not marketing fluff. That's three decades of battle-tested security experience that separates us from every consultant who just discovered CMMC exists because there's money in it.

The Difference Between "Compliance" and Actual Security

Here's what keeps me up at night: defense contractors are betting their entire businesses on compliance advice from people who've never actually hardened a system against a determined adversary.

They're getting cookie-cutter templates, generic checklists, and surface-level assessments that check boxes but leave gaping security holes. When the Department of Defense finally cracks down on CMMC enforcement, these contractors are going to discover they paid for compliance theater: not real protection.

Planet Security's approach is fundamentally different because our foundation was built long before CMMC existed. We've been protecting high-value targets since 1993, working with clients like:

Department of Homeland Security
U.S. State Department
Chase Bank
Bank of America

These organizations don't hire security firms that learned cybersecurity last year. They demand proven, battle-tested security architectures that can withstand sophisticated nation-state attacks, insider threats, and everything in between.

That's the DNA behind our CPE Level 2 solution.

Why 1993 Matters in 2026

You might be thinking: "What does 1993 have to do with my CMMC Level 2 assessment in 2026?"

Everything.

Consider what was happening in cybersecurity in 1993:

The internet was just becoming commercially viable
The first web browser had just launched
Cybercriminals were pioneering the first ransomware attacks
Most companies didn't even have firewalls

While everyone else was figuring out what cybersecurity even meant, Planet Security was already building defensive architectures. We weren't studying theory: we were actively defending networks, adapting to emerging threats, and developing the first-principles thinking that would eventually evolve into comprehensive resilience strategies.

Fast-forward 30+ years. The threats have evolved, but the fundamental principles of defense haven't changed:

Network segmentation still works
Encryption still protects data at rest and in transit
Access controls still prevent unauthorized access
Monitoring still detects anomalies

The difference? We've refined these approaches through thousands of real-world implementations across government agencies, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure.

From Pandemic Crisis to Comprehensive Resilience

When COVID-19 hit, most security companies scrambled to pivot their messaging. Planet Security used that time to think deeply about resilience from first principles.

We asked: What happens when cybersecurity alone isn't enough? What if the power grid fails? What if supply chains collapse? What if critical infrastructure comes under coordinated attack?

That's when we expanded beyond pure cybersecurity into Energy and Water security solutions. Not as separate business lines, but as integrated components of a comprehensive resilience philosophy.

This might seem unrelated to NIST 800-171 compliance: but it reveals everything about how we think.

We don't just check boxes. We build unbreakable systems.

When you implement CPE Level 2, you're not getting a compliance product cobbled together by consultants who read the NIST SP800-171 publication and reverse-engineered a solution. You're getting three decades of security architecture expertise applied to the specific challenge of protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).

The CPE Level 2 Difference: Pragmatic Execution Over Promises

Let me show you exactly what battle-tested experience looks like in practice.

CPE Level 2 isn't a consulting engagement. It's not another six-month assessment project where you pay someone to tell you everything that's wrong with your network, then leave you to figure out how to fix it.

It's a complete, turnkey solution that covers all 110 CMMC 2.0 Level 2 requirements and 320 objectives: deployed in as little as 4 weeks.

Here's what's included for $1,299/month for up to 20 users (with pricing adjustments based on deployment speed):

Dedicated hardware and software purpose-built for CUI protection
Complete network segmentation isolating your enclave from corporate infrastructure
Over 900 hardening steps applied systematically across your environment
Managed security services (MSP/MSSP) providing continuous monitoring
Security patching and backup handled automatically
vCISO monthly sessions with experienced security professionals
Audit support when your C3PAO assessment happens

Notice what's missing? There's no guesswork. No "we'll need to assess your environment first" delays. No POA&M tracking because everything is implemented correctly from day one.

That level of confidence only comes from 30 years of knowing exactly what works and what doesn't.

The Snake Oil Test: Can They Actually Defend Networks?

Here's my challenge to every defense contractor evaluating CMMC consultants: Ask them what they were doing in 1993.

Ask them if they've ever:

Defended networks for federal law enforcement agencies
Protected financial systems for major banks
Built security architectures that survived real-world attacks
Implemented cybersecurity before it was profitable

Most CMMC consultants can't answer those questions because they literally didn't exist as security professionals until CMMC created a market opportunity.

Planet Security has protected some of the highest-value targets in government and finance for three decades. The security principles we developed protecting the State Department's networks? Those same principles are embedded in CPE Level 2.

The monitoring capabilities we refined defending against sophisticated financial fraud? They're baked into our managed security services.

The incident response procedures we developed handling real breaches? They inform our audit support and vCISO guidance.

Yoo-Jin AI: Privacy-First Intelligence

Speaking of battle-tested thinking, let's talk about AI for a moment.

Generic AI tools cannot be trusted with client data. Period. When you upload CUI to ChatGPT or other Big-Tech AI platforms, you're handing your sensitive information to systems designed to monetize data, not protect it.

That's why we built Yoo-Jin AI specifically for defense contractors. She uses AI-obfuscated data to provide intelligent assistance while maintaining strict privacy controls. She's available 24/7 to answer compliance questions, guide implementations, and support your team: without ever exposing your CUI to external exploitation.

The Real Cost of Being a Guinea Pig

Every defense contractor who chooses an inexperienced CMMC consultant is betting their DoD contracts on someone else's learning curve.

Think about that for a second.

You're gambling your business on whether a consultant can figure out CMMC requirements on your dime.

Meanwhile, Planet Security has already implemented proven security architectures hundreds of times. We know exactly what C3PAOs look for during assessments. We understand which controls trip up most contractors. We've refined our deployment process until it's absolutely bulletproof.

That's the difference between 30 years of experience and 30 months of opportunism.

Get Started With Battle-Tested Security Today

If you're serious about CMMC compliance: and serious about actually protecting CUI, not just creating the appearance of compliance: Planet Security's 1993 legacy is your secret weapon.

We've defended networks when most of today's "consultants" were still in elementary school. We've evolved our security philosophy through real-world attacks, federal agency requirements, and financial institution standards that make CMMC Level 2 look straightforward by comparison.

CPE Level 2 brings that entire legacy to bear on your NIST 800-171 compliance challenge: starting at $1,299/month with deployment in as little as 4 weeks.

Don't be a guinea pig for inexperienced consultants. Partner with the security firm that's been forging unbreakable resilience since 1993.

PLANET SECURITY INC.
CYBER | ENERGY | WATER
PLANETSECURITY.NET
702-508-2338
CMMC@PLANETSECURITY.NET