On June 6, 2025, the Trump Administration released a new Executive Order (“EO”) on cybersecurity, Sustaining Select Efforts to Strengthen the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Amending Executive Order 13694 and Executive Order...more
6/10/2025
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NIST ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Software ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration
On April 3, 2025, OMB released two new memorandums on artificial intelligence (“AI”) as directed by Executive Order 14179, Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence. (As a reminder, President Trump...more
5/5/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Government Agencies ,
New Guidance ,
OMB ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology ,
Trump Administration
The wait is finally over! After more than 14 years of anticipation, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) Proposed Rule on Controlled Unclassified Information (“CUI”) was released on January 15, 2025 and comes as part of...more
1/30/2025
/ Compliance ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Data Security ,
DFARS ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Final Rules ,
NIST ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Management ,
Training
Over the last few years, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”) Program Management Office (“PMO”) has released two draft guidance documents related to defining the applicable boundary for security...more
1/30/2025
/ Cloud Computing ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Contractors ,
FedRAMP ,
New Guidance ,
NIST ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management
In the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity, even organizations that meet stringent security standards can be victims of sophisticated cyberattacks. A notable example of this is the December 8, 2024 cybersecurity incident...more
1/30/2025
/ Cloud Computing ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Federal Contractors ,
FedRAMP ,
Incident Response Plans ,
National Security ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party ,
U.S. Treasury
To kick off the New Year (and as is now tradition, since we put out a similar Recap & Forecast last year), Sheppard Mullin’s Governmental Practice Cybersecurity & Data Protection Team has prepared a cybersecurity-focused 2024...more
1/8/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Compliance ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Enforcement ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
FedRAMP ,
National Security ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Software
On October 22, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that Pennsylvania State University (“Penn State”) has agreed to pay $1,250,000 to settle a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case brought against the University...more
10/31/2024
/ Chief Information Officers (CIO) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Defense Contracts ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
NASA ,
Penn State ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Settlement ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
On October 15, 2024, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) published the final version of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) rule in Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations (the “Final Rule”). (Reminder,...more
On August 22, 2024, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Complaint-In-Intervention (the “Complaint”) against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Georgia Tech Research Corp. (GTRC). The...more
The proposed rule to implement the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) program in the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) was published in the Federal Register on August 15, 2024 and...more
For companies in the U.S. that hold certain personal data and U.S. Government-related data, rules stemming from recent Executive Order (“EO”) 14117 on “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United...more
On April 1, 2024, the FAR Council published a new Final Rule that establishes FAR Part 40 – but without any new provisions of substance. This Final Rule becomes effective on May 1, 2024. Subsequently, the FAR Council...more
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) recently released its new Proposed Rule pursuant to the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“CIRCIA”), which was published in the...more
4/9/2024
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Information Technology ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Supply Chain
Class Deviation Prohibits DoD from Requiring Contractors to Disclose Emissions -
Over the past two years, the FAR Council has been working to develop a rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) to...more
3/28/2024
/ Climate Change ,
Contractors ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
NDAA ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In its first major overhaul since 2014, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) updated its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) on February 26, 2024. The updated 27-page CSF version 2.0 builds on version 1.1 and...more
To kick off the New Year, Sheppard Mullin’s Governmental Practice Cybersecurity & Data Protection Team has prepared a cybersecurity-focused 2023 Recap (including links to all of the resources the team has put out over the...more
2/9/2024
/ Cloud Computing ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
Data Protection ,
Data Rights ,
Data Security ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Contractors ,
FedRAMP ,
Fraud ,
Privacy Laws ,
Software
Well, the wait is over. Just as 2023 came to a close, on December 26, 2023, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) published the much-anticipated Proposed Rule for the DoD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”)...more
1/3/2024
/ Certification Requirements ,
Comment Period ,
Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) ,
DCMA ,
Defense Contracts ,
Defense Sector ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
DFARS ,
Federal Contractors ,
Proposed Rules
On October 5, 2023, the FAR Council released an Interim Rule on “Implementation of Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA) Orders.” The Interim Rule implements requirements from Section 202 of the Federal...more
On October 3, 2023, the FAR Council released two long-awaited proposed rules for federal contractor cybersecurity stemming from the Biden Administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order from May 2021 (Executive Order 14028)....more
10/5/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Comment Period ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Executive Orders ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
OMB ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Software ,
Technology Sector
A few weeks ago, we discussed two recent cyber-related False Claims Act (FCA) cases. One of those cases is a qui tam lawsuit against Penn State and, as of the date of our article, we were waiting to see if DOJ would opt to...more
In recent weeks, there has been an uptick in news of cyber-related False Claims Act (“FCA”) activity. For example, on September 1, 2023, the court unsealed a qui tam lawsuit against Penn State University relating to...more
9/12/2023
/ Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Controlled Defense Information (CDI) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DFARS ,
Enforcement ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Internal Investigations ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Qui Tam ,
Universities ,
Whistleblowers
In response to a constantly-evolving cyber threat landscape, the Biden Administration recently announced the launch of a new cybersecurity labeling program – the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark program – in an effort to enhance...more
8/4/2023
/ Connected Items ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Collection ,
Data Security ,
Federal Contractors ,
Internet of Things ,
New Legislation ,
NIST ,
Personal Data ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Privacy Laws ,
Smart Devices ,
Technology Sector
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released an initial public draft of NIST SP 800-171, Revision 3, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations. Compliance...more
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Program Management Office recently released a revised version of its Obligations and Compliance Standards document for third party assessors – the organizations...more
On November 14, 2022, the Department of Defense (DoD), General Services Administration (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) published a proposed rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition...more
11/30/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Contractors ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
General Services Administration (GSA) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proposed Rules