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
Podcast - The State of Contractor Cybersecurity with Katie Arrington
SWIFT to Launch May 1: DOD Fast Tracks Software Deployment Opening New Doors for Defense Contractors - In a decisive move to stay ahead in an era of rapidly evolving digital threats, the Department of Defense (DOD) is...more
In a decisive move to stay ahead in an era of rapidly evolving digital threats, the Department of Defense (DOD) is accelerating its push for software modernization. The upcoming launch of the Software Fast Track (SWIFT)...more
On March 6, 2025, the Defense Secretary released a memorandum directing the Department of Defense (“DoD”) to adopt the Software Acquisition Pathway (“SWP”) to speed up the development, procurement, and delivery of software...more
WHAT: Department of Defense (DOD) Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum titled “Directing Modern Software Acquisition to Maximize Lethality” that is intended to reform DOD’s procurement involving software development....more
Federal contractors, including defense contractors, should prepare for the emergence of new requirements in the coming months that are designed to strengthen software supply chain security, impose more stringent cybersecurity...more
Citing the threats posed by foreign adversaries and criminal organizations, and seeking enhanced accountability for companies that provide software and cloud services to the federal government, the Biden administration has...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
On December 23, 2024, President Biden signed the Source Code Harmonization and Reuse in Information Technology Act (“SHARE IT Act” or “the Act”), which provides a formal mechanism for federal agencies to store and share...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
Part of the Biden Administration’s push to enhance U.S. cybersecurity capabilities has focused on imposing new requirements on government contractors. The 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy suggested, for example, that...more
WHAT: The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) issued a proposed rule to implement Section 1655(a) and (c) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 (Pub. L. 115-232). The proposed rule would...more
When the U.S. Government licenses commercial software, it generally does so under the same terms as any other commercial software licensee, unless the terms of that license are inconsistent with federal law or do not...more
The United States Department of Defense’s (DoD) supplement to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (DFARS) requires the DoD to adopt a Modular Open System Approach (MOSA), which is a technical and business strategy for open 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
On December 14, 2023, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA), following the Senate’s passage a few days earlier. The President is expected to sign the NDAA into...more
While the DoD charts a path forward on CMMC, the USG is emphasizing the need to comply with existing cyber obligations in government contracts and taking steps to enforce compliance with those obligations. The June 16 Memo...more
Late last year in the Holland & Knight blog post, "DOD's New IP Rules May Impact Contractors' Rights in Computer Software and Technical Data," the firm reported on new intellectual property (IP) rules proposed by the U.S....more
Both houses of Congress now have voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. Although the threat of a presidential veto still hangs over the NDAA, we highlight below a few of the...more
As the frequency and sophistication of existential threats to national security over the past decade have drastically increased, the United States’ reliance on software to identify threats, rapidly share information, and...more
• DoD and other government agencies will scrutinize contractors’ supply chain security plans and programs from proposal submission to contract closeout. • The 2019 NDAA as approved by Congress and DHS initiatives highlight...more
The National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) for Fiscal Year 2018 was signed into law on December 12, 2017, and authorizes a topline national defense budget of $700 billion. While the 2018 NDAA makes a number of changes to...more
On December 12, 2017, President Trump signed the $700 billion 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) into law. Following negotiations between the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, the NDAA includes new...more
This is the seventh blog post in a series analyzing the current draft of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) as agreed to by House and Senate negotiators on November 8, 2017. Stay tuned for more blog posts...more
This article focuses on contractor licenses that grant “Restricted Rights” in “Noncommercial Software” to the federal Government under Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) 252.227-7014. DFARS...more
On August 8, 2016, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) promulgated an Open Source Software (“OSS”) policy via the Memorandum for the Heads of Departments and Agencies, M-16-21 (“Memorandum” or “M-16-21”). The...more