On December 26, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) released the highly anticipated proposed rule for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program (CMMC), a cybersecurity regulatory program that will likely impact most of the government contractor community. Every contractor who handles sensitive data such as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) or Federal Contract Information (FCI) during DoD contract performance will be covered by this regulation. While the CMMC program builds upon the security requirements included in Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) clause 252.204-7012, CMMC will bring greater scrutiny to contractors’ cybersecurity compliance and potentially greater consequences for failure to comply in the era of the Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber Fraud Initiative and False Claims Act litigation. If finalized as proposed, the rule will significantly impact the CMMC regime, notably by requiring senior company officials to complete an affirmation for every CMMC level self-assessed or certified, thus increasing legal compliance risks.Continue Reading DoD’s New Year Resolution: A Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Program (CMMC) Proposed Rule
Spy Games: Biden Administration Issues Executive Order Restricting Federal Use of Commercial Spyware
Overview
On March 27, 2023, President Biden signed the Executive Order on Prohibition on Use by the United States Government of Commercial Spyware that Poses Risks to National Security (EO), restricting federal agencies’ use of commercial spyware. The Biden Administration cited targeted attacks utilizing commercial spyware on U.S. officials and human rights abuses abroad as
DoD Digs In Its Cyber “SPRS”: New Solicitation Provision Requires Contracting Officers to Consider SPRS Risk Assessments
On March 22, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a final rule requiring contracting officers to consider supplier risk assessments in DoD’s Supplier Performance Risk System (SPRS) when evaluating offers. SPRS is a DoD enterprise system that collects contractor quality and delivery performance data from a variety of systems to develop three risk assessments:
Cyber and Physical Attacks on the Electric Grid Should Prompt New Year’s Resolutions for the Energy Industry
This has not been a joyful winter for energy industry executives. They have repeatedly awoken to alerts that substations in the Northwest and Southeast have been physically attacked and that a major engineering firm was the subject of a ransomware cyberattack that may have compromised utility data.
Federal regulators are taking notice. On December 7
Going Hard on Software: OMB Unveils Mandatory Software Supply Chain Security Compliance Requirements
Yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Memorandum M-22-18, implementing software supply chain security requirements that will have a significant impact on software companies and vendors in accordance with Executive Order 14028, Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity. The Memorandum requires all federal agencies and their software suppliers to comply with the NIST
No Summer Break for Cyber: Newly Unveiled CMMC Assessment Process Provides Industry with Upcoming Assessment Insights
After much anticipation, the Cyber AB, formerly known as the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Accreditation Body, recently released its pre-decisional draft CMMC Assessment Process (CAP). The CAP describes the overarching procedures and guidance that CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organizations (C3PAOs) will use to assess entities seeking CMMC certification. The current version of the CAP applies
No More “Wait & See” for CMMC: DoD Releases Final Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification
The Department of Defense (DoD) has released Version 1.0 of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), Appendices A-F, and an Overview Briefing. While Version 1.0 largely mirrors the draft Version 0.7, the final version includes notable revisions. Please click here to see the full client alert.
DoD Increases DCMA Cybersecurity Responsibilities
The Department of Defense recently released a memorandum directing the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) to implement and assess company-wide cyber compliance with the DFARS Safeguarding Clause and related security standard, NIST SP 800-171. For further analysis, visit our Government Contracts Legal Forum blog post.
SEC Encourages Internal Accounting Controls to Guard Against Cyber Fraud
Concluding its investigation into the internal accounting controls of nine public issuers who were recent cyber fraud victims, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Division of Enforcement explicitly reminded issuers to consider cyber-related threats in developing and deploying their Section 13(b)(2)(B) internal accounting controls.
The SEC emphasized the importance of tailoring internal accounting controls to cyber-related threats, noting that cyber frauds like those carried out in the nine cases it investigated have caused “over $5 billion in losses since 2013, with an additional $675 million in adjusted losses in 2017.”
Continue Reading SEC Encourages Internal Accounting Controls to Guard Against Cyber Fraud
NIST Offers Insight Into Updated Risk Management Framework
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently provided a glimpse into their revised Risk Management Framework (RMF). NIST issued a Final Draft of Special Publication (SP) 800-37, Revision 2, Risk Management Framework for Information Systems and Organizations–A System Life Cycle Approach for Security and Privacy. The focus of the revised