The Rise of OTAs in Defense Contracting: Opportunities, Risks, and What Contractors Need to Know
Podcast - Navigating the Updated SF-328 Form
Podcast - A Comparative Guide to Obtaining an FCL: DCSA vs. the Intelligence Community
Diversifying Your Contract Pipeline by Maximizing Opportunities through the DOD’s Mentor Protégé Program
A Comprehensive Overview of FOCI Mitigation
Podcast - Defense Dynamics: Navigating the Post-Election Landscape for the National Security Sector, Part 2
Mitigating FOCI Under Section 847
Episode 345 -- Raytheon Pays $950 Million to Resolve Fraud, FCPA, ITAR and False Claims Act Violations
Everyone Come to Play: Exploring FOCI Mitigation Instruments
Defense Dynamics: Navigating the Post-Election Landscape for the National Security Sector
Podcast - Navigating M&A Due Diligence: Safeguarding Security Clearances
Podcast - Change Condition Packages: Tips for Cleared Contractors
Podcast - Corporate Documents in the Context of Clearances
Navigating Personnel Security Clearances (PCLs)
Cybersecurity Insights: Updates on CMMC Implementation and CUI Identification
What Is an FCL and How Do I Obtain One?
Protecting Our Nation’s Data: Cybersecurity Compliance for Government Contractors
Intellectual Property In Department of Defense Contracting
The When, Where, Why and How of CMMC with Fernando Machado
The recent National 8(a) Small Business Conference underscored pressing challenges and critical updates regarding the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program, now in an advanced phase known as CMMC 2.0. The...more
On January 15, 2025, the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Council issued a proposed rule that, if adopted, would uniformly define and protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) across the government. The proposed...more
On January 15, 2025, the Department of Defense (DOD), General Services Administration (GSA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (collectively, “the FAR Council”) issued a long-anticipated proposed...more
Over the last two decades, federal contractors have been frustrated by the Government’s hodgepodge approach to regulating Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). Various agencies have implemented differing definitions,...more
After years of anticipation, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council has announced the arrival of its proposed rule to enhance the safeguarding of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in federal contracts (the...more
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
Welcome to this month’s issue of The BR Privacy & Security Download, the digital newsletter of Blank Rome’s Privacy, Security, & Data Protection practice....more
Penn State recently agreed to pay $1.25 million to settle allegations of False Claims Act violations related to its cybersecurity controls after a whistleblower alleged that the university failed to adhere to cybersecurity...more
Since 2016, the federal government has implemented numerous procurement regulations and associated contract clauses to address cybersecurity by requiring contractors to adopt various controls and standards to protect...more
On May 2, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a class deviation to DFARS 252.204-7012 “to provide industry time for a more deliberate transition upon the forthcoming release of [National Institute of Standards and...more
The White House recently issued an executive order that restricts cross-border transfers of personal data from the United States to “countries of concern.” President Biden also urged Congress to pass comprehensive privacy...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
The Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes numerous provisions relevant to government contractors in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, supply chain concerns related to...more
Substantive cybersecurity amendments to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) are underway, significantly altering the duties and obligations of federal government contractors both prior to award and during contract...more
Learning Objectives - What is CMMC and should I care? - Cybersecurity is crucial for compliance in any company - Is NIST 800-171 (The CMMC Framework) worth employing? - Thoughts and observations from the field...more
Protecting Our Nation’s Data, Part 2: Implementing Cyber Threat Incident Reporting and Information Sharing - In October 2023, the federal government released a Proposed Rule aimed at incorporating new cybersecurity...more
On September 1, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania unsealed a qui tam False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit (originally filed on October 5, 2022) alleging Penn State University failed to provide...more
The Department of Homeland Security amended its regulations due to the urgent need to protect Controlled Unclassified Information. On June 21, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or Department) issued a final...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued comprehensive cybersecurity regulations aimed at protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). These regulations were long-awaited, as the original proposed...more
The Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) recently released its “Audit of the DoD’s Implementation and Oversight of the Controlled Unclassified Information [CUI] Program” (DODIG-2023-078). The audit highlights some...more
The federal government recently issued an interim rule, effective immediately, prohibiting the presence or use of the TikTok application in the performance of a contract. This rule continues the government’s actions against...more
Cybersecurity has been an important topic for many years now, yet the government has struggled with how to flow down cybersecurity obligations to its supply chain. The Department of Defense’s (DOD) Cybersecurity Maturity...more
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a final rule, effective February 24, 2023, amending the VA’s Acquisition Regulation (VAAR) to impose new cybersecurity procedures and processes to protect sensitive VA...more
Currently defense contractors who receive or create Controlled Unclassified Information (“CUI”) from or for the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) are subject to several contract-based cybersecurity requirements, including...more