CUI Spillage: Your Biggest CMMC Compliance Risk and How to Fix It

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) spillage is a silent but critical threat to achieving and maintaining Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliance. Even organizations with robust security programs can fall short if CUI escapes its designated secure environment. This blog explores what CUI spillage is, why it’s a problem, and how Teramis’ purpose-built platform helps organizations detect, remediate, and prevent spillage to ensure CMMC compliance without disrupting business operations.

What Is CUI Spillage?

CUI spillage occurs when sensitive Controlled Unclassified Information lands outside its intended, secure environment. This can happen in everyday workflows: an employee emails a contract to a personal device, a design file syncs to an unapproved cloud folder, or old project data lingers in an unauthorized backup. These incidents aren’t always malicious data breaches—they’re often just operational oversights. However, under CMMC, they’re serious compliance violations that can jeopardize your certification and erode trust with clients and regulators.

Spillage is particularly challenging because CUI moves through dynamic, collaborative environments. Emails, cloud storage, mobile devices, and shared drives are all potential leakage points. Traditional security tools often lack the precision to detect CUI in these unstructured data environments, leaving organizations vulnerable to compliance gaps.

Why CUI Spillage Threatens

CMMC ComplianceCMMC is designed to protect sensitive government data, and compliance requires organizations to demonstrate control over CUI at all times. Spillage undermines this control, creating risks such as:

• Audit Failures: Misplaced CUI can lead to non-compliance during CMMC assessments.

• Data Exposure: Even unintentional leaks increase the risk of sensitive information reaching unauthorized parties.

  
  

• Operational Delays: Resolving spillage manually is time-consuming and disrupts workflows.

  
  

• Loss of Trust: Failure to manage CUI can damage relationships with government agencies and prime contractors.

For organizations pursuing CMMC Level 2 or Level 3 certification, addressing spillage is non-negotiable. The stakes are high, and the margin for error is slim.

How Teramis Solves CUI Spillage

Teramis is a purpose-built platform designed to tackle the unique challenges of CUI spillage in dynamic business environments. Unlike traditional compliance tools that focus on policies or static controls, Teramis provides real-time visibility and actionable solutions to keep your CUI secure and your organization CMMC-compliant. Here’s how Teramis helps:

1. Enclave ValidationYour secure enclave is the cornerstone of CMMC compliance, but how do you know it’s truly secure? Teramis validates that CUI exists only where it’s supposed to, ensuring your enclave isn’t silently leaking sensitive data. By scanning your environment, Teramis confirms compliance and identifies any stray CUI that could trigger audit issues.

   
   

2. Comprehensive CUI DiscoveryCUI doesn’t just live in one place—it’s scattered across file shares, laptops, mobile endpoints, cloud storage, and backups. Teramis uses advanced scanning to locate CUI wherever it hides, providing a complete picture of your data landscape. This data-driven discovery operates at enterprise scale, ensuring no file or device is overlooked.

   
   

3. Rapid Spillage ResponseWhen spillage happens (and it will), speed is critical. Teramis identifies the location, scope, and sensitivity of spilled CUI, enabling your team to act quickly and precisely. Whether it’s an email attachment or a misplaced cloud file, Teramis helps you contain the issue without disrupting business operations.

   
   

4. Support for CMMC MaturityFor organizations early in their CMMC journey, Teramis lays the groundwork for compliance. By mapping where your CUI lives, Teramis helps you make informed decisions about policies, architecture, and tools. This is especially valuable for subcontractors or businesses aiming for CMMC Level 2 or 3 certification, where data control is paramount.

A CMMC-Aligned Workflow for Spillage Response

Teramis doesn’t just find CUI spillage—it provides a systematic, auditable process to address it, aligned with CMMC expectations. Here’s how it works:

Detect and Classify

Teramis scans your entire environment—on-prem, cloud, and hybrid—using advanced content analysis and agency-specific tagging. This ensures accurate identification of CUI, even in unstructured data like emails or shared drives.

Quarantine and Investigate

Once spillage is detected, Teramis isolates affected assets and traces the data’s path to uncover the root cause. This process preserves forensic evidence, ensuring compliance with audit requirements.

Remediate and Restore

Teramis empowers your team to act decisively, whether that means securely deleting misplaced CUI, relocating it to a compliant enclave, or restricting access. Remediation is designed to minimize disruption to your operations.

Document and Defend

Every action is logged with time-stamped, audit-ready records. When your CMMC assessor asks for proof of due diligence, you’ll have clear documentation of what happened and how it was resolved.

Why Prevention Starts with Visibility

CMMC isn’t just about meeting technical requirements—it’s about building trust with government agencies and partners. You can’t protect what you can’t see, and most security tools aren’t designed to detect CUI spillage with the precision CMMC demands. Teramis bridges this gap with:

• Enterprise-Scale Discovery: Covers unstructured files, endpoints, shared drives, and more.

• Agency-Specific Tuning: Reduces false positives with precision tailored to agency requirements.

• Low-Impact Remediation: Fixes issues without slowing down your business.

This visibility empowers organizations to stay ahead of spillage risks, ensuring compliance and operational efficiency.

Why Teramis Stands Out

Most compliance tools stop at policies or checklists. Teramis goes further, delivering operational insight into where your CUI actually is—and where it shouldn’t be. Whether you’re a prime contractor managing complex supply chains or a subcontractor aiming for CMMC Level 2 or 3, Teramis provides the tools to maintain compliance without sacrificing productivity.

Key benefits include:

• Real-Time Insights: Know exactly where your CUI is at all times.

• Scalable Solutions: Built for enterprises of all sizes, from small subcontractors to large primes.

• Audit-Ready Compliance: Defensible records to satisfy CMMC assessors.

• Business Continuity: Fix spillage without disrupting workflows.

Take Control of CUI Spillage Today

CUI spillage is a hidden threat that can undermine even the most robust CMMC compliance efforts. With Teramis, you gain the visibility, precision, and speed to detect, remediate, and prevent spillage—keeping your data secure and your business compliant. Don’t let misplaced CUI derail your certification or reputation.

Discover how Teramis can help you find and fix CUI spillage with confidence. Visit our website to learn more or schedule a demo today.