In the summer of 2015, we cautioned that the Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) new cybersecurity regulations could be used offensively to support False Claims Act (FCA) cases and bid protests. Four years later, those premonitions have unfortunately come true. Recently, a federal court refused to dismiss a relator’s implied certification FCA case in which he alleged that his employer “misrepresented … to the government the extent to which it had equipment required by the regulations, instituted required security controls, and possessed necessary firewalls” in violation of DoD’s cybersecurity regulations. United States ex rel. Markus v. Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., No. 2:15-cv-2245, 2019 WL 2024595, *3 (E.D. Cal. May 8, 2019).
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Government Contractors
DSS Directs Federal Government Contractors to Stop Using Products Made by AO Kaspersky Lab
By Suzanne Sumner on
Posted in Government Contractors
You may have heard news recently that federal government agencies were directed to stop using products made by the computer security vendor Kaspersky Lab because of potential security risks from links between Kaspersky officials and the Russian government. The directive was issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Elaine Duke on Sept. 13, 2017.
Kaspersky products have broad access to files and elevated privileges on the computers on which they are installed. As a result, the DHS…
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10 Tips for Presenting Complex Cases In Arbitration
By Taft Law on
The American Arbitration Association (AAA) and its International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) recently created an aerospace, aviation and national security panel of arbitrators to handle complex, high-value aerospace, aviation, defense, cyber and security-related disputes. Similarly, AAA has a special panel of arbitrators to handle technology-related disputes. But what should companies involved in these types of arbitration cases expect?
Taft attorneys Bill Wagner and Michael Diamant recently published an article in Law360 with 10 tips for presenting complex cases in…
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DHS Proposed Rules Cover Privacy Training, IT Security Awareness Training and the Safeguarding of CUI
By Tony Busch & Suzanne Sumner on
Posted in data privacy, Government Contractors
In January, we wrote about the new training requirement for employees who handle personally identifiable information (“PII”) or who build systems containing PII. On the same day that rule went into effect, Jan. 19, 2017, three related Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) proposed rules were published in the Federal Register covering mandatory privacy training, information technology (“IT”) security awareness training, and the safeguarding of controlled unclassified information (“CUI”). Comments on all three proposed rules are due on Monday, March 20,…
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Will the New DoD Cybersecurity Regulations Cause a New Wave of Protest Disputes?
The new DoD cybersecurity regulations require contractors to implement the security requirements specified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171, “Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Information Systems and Organizations,” not later than Dec. 31, 2017. DFARS, 252.204-7008(c)(1).
However, a contractor may propose to vary from the NIST SP 800-171 requirements under two circumstances. Under DFARS 252.204-7008(c)(2), a contractor may propose to vary from the security requirements specified by NIST SP 800-171 through a…
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Webinar Replay Now Available on the New Defense Department Cybersecurity Rules
The U.S. Department of Defense published its Network Penetration Reporting and Cloud Computing Services regulations as an interim rule in August 2015 and updated them in December 2015. Watch this new webinar replay at your convenience to learn about the regulations, how they may impact your business, and the concerns of industry groups. Click HERE to watch the webinar in its entirety.
Did China’s Agreement Not to Steal U.S. Intellectual Property Influence the Defense Department’s Decision to Grant a Two-Year Extension for Contractors to Comply with NIST SP 800-171’s Guidelines for Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information?
On June 4, 2015, the Office of Personnel Management announced that personally identifiable information for 4 million current and retired U.S. Government employees had been breached. China was suspected of having facilitated the breach.
Two weeks later, after the number of data breach victims had risen to 14 million, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published its new Guidelines for Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Information Systems and Organizations, NIST Special Publication 800-171.
We published our…
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