Adam Hickey

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On August 15, 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD) published a proposed rule to amend the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate contractual requirements related to the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) 2.0 program rule. The CMMC 2.0 program provides a framework for assessing contractor implementation of cybersecurity requirements and enhancing the protection…

On May 7, 2024, the Biden Administration released the second version of the National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan as well as the first Report on the Cybersecurity Posture of the United States. These actions reflect the Administration’s continued focus on enhancing the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure and software as well as its work to…

On May 2, 2024, the Department of Defense (DoD) issued a class deviation to DFARS 252.204-7012, Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting.

The deviation relates to contractors’ compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171, which is currently undergoing a revision. The deviation changes the requirement that contractors…

On March 27, 2024, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) within the US Department of Homeland Security released a much-anticipated notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA). Under the proposed rule, covered entities will have 72 hours to report to CISA a “covered…

On February 28, 2024, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14117, empowering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to regulate the export of certain consumer data, in order to prevent certain countries’ governments from obtaining bulk sets of especially sensitive personal data. The EO, “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United…

On December 12, 2023, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued guidelines for companies to follow in requesting that the Attorney General authorize delays of cyber incident disclosures required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) pursuant to Form 8-K Item 1.05.

In July, the SEC finalized a rule (the “Final Rule”), which comes…

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a good time to highlight one trend in federal efforts to address cyber risk: proscriptive regulation of the information and communications technology and services (“ICTS”) supply chain.

Supply chain risk management is a broad field encompassing, among other things, federal efforts to improve software security, and proposals to revise the FAR…

Recent high-profile cyber incidents involving exploitation of software vulnerabilities—such as the SolarWinds and MOVEit incidents—have increased scrutiny of the security of the software upon which corporate and government customers rely. Though phishing and social engineering continue to be leading causes of cyber incidents, there is growing potential legal exposure for companies from security vulnerabilities in…

Last week, the government announced two sets of proposed revisions to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to improve the cybersecurity of the government’s information systems. Both sets of revisions relate to President Biden’s May 2021 Executive Order 14028 on Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity.

First, the Department of Defense (DoD), the General Services Administration…

India—the fifth largest economy in the world—just passed a comprehensive privacy law. On August 11, 2023, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (the “DPDP”) was approved by the president of India, adding India to the list of global powers with a comprehensive privacy law. The law is expected to come into force in June…