Retlif Earns Certification for Increased Cybersecurity Protection in Maritime Product Testing

Retlif Testing Laboratories (Ronkonkoma, NY) achieved a milestone through the deployment of an effective cybersecurity plan that is in compliance with NIST 800-171 and Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the Department of Defense Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC).

Overseen and coordinated by Team Logic IT (South Setauket, NY), completion of the 12-month NIST cyber security compliance project means that Retlif’s Ronkonkoma New York, Harleysville, Pennsylvania and Goffstown, New Hampshire testing laboratories are certified to deliver a higher degree of cybersecurity protection.

“Our clients find that such compliance is a high level difference-maker,” Retlif President Walter Poggi said. “Given today’s rampant cybersecurity attacks that plague every business in every industry, the U.S. government created a comprehensive set of regulations to combat hacking efforts and to keep Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) secure. In commercial maritime product manufacturing, this would affect anything other than COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf) and includes modified COTS products. I’m very pleased to announce that Retlif is one of the first organizations in the testing industry to offer NIST standard cybersecurity compliance to our maritime clients who manufacture products and systems for commercial ships from tankers to tugs, from  fishing boats and ferries to workboats of every type imaginable.”  

CUI, a term applied to virtually any sensitive, unclassified information that the U.S. government shares with governmental agencies, contractors and subcontractors, runs the gamut from financial information to product patents.

“Achieving certification to NIST standards is a complex process,” commented Roger Noakes, President of Team Logic IT. “With Retlif, all required controls, documentation and procedures were defined and established, followed by extensive training of designated personnel. Both Team Logic IT and designated Retlif engineers will continually monitor for full cybersecurity compliance .”

Poggi agreed. “We collectively recognize that cybersecurity countermeasures and threats appear and evolve rapidly and are certainly not limited to the maritime industry. NIST 800-171 compliance at Retlif is not a one and done situation. It’s about vigilance over time. It’s about Retlif remaining fully committed and fully engaged in a continuous process of threat discovery, threat defense and threat prevention for the ultimate benefit of our clients.”