The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its first major complaint-in-intervention under the False Claims Act (FCA) premised on a government contractor’s alleged cybersecurity deficiencies since the DOJ’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative was launched in 2021. Its complaint accuses the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) of violating cybersecurity regulations while fulfilling $31 million of
Cybersecurity
FCA Settlements with Companies on Government Cybersecurity Concerns Continue
On Monday, June 17, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced settlements involving $11.3 million in payments for consulting companies failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in federally funded contracts. The head of DOJ’s Civil Division stated, “Federal funding frequently comes with cybersecurity obligations, and contractors and grantees must honor these commitments. The Justice Department…
Ciminelli One Year Later: The Evolving Reach of the Wire Fraud Statute
The federal wire fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1343, is one of the commonly used statutes in federal white-collar criminal cases. In our digital age, nearly any significant fraud or scheme could probably be charged as a wire fraud. But even expansive statutes have limits, as the Supreme Court held last year in an important…
Elder Wire Fraud Scams Rising, Produce Huge Losses
As part of implementing a robust cybersecurity standard, we must understand how bad actors are intentionally targeting our older colleagues and loved ones. On April 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against 16 defendants in connection with a scam that defrauded hundreds of elderly Americans out of millions of dollars. Just…
DOJ Announces Its FCA Enforcement Priorities for 2024: Cybersecurity, COVID-19, and Healthcare Fraud
On February 22, 2024, Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton delivered remarks at the 2024 Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Conference. During those remarks, Boynton announced another record year for DOJ’s False Claims Act enforcement efforts. Specifically, Boynton announced, in 2023 alone, nearly $2.7 billion was recovered under the FCA and included the resolution of…
Federal Government Continues Its Big Push for Cybersecurity with SEC Action Against SolarWinds and Its CISO
On October 30, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a civil suit against SolarWinds and their chief information security officer (CISO) for fraudulent cybersecurity information. The SEC claims that even though SolarWinds and the CISO knew about specific risks and vulnerabilities, SolarWinds’ cybersecurity risk disclosures did not disclose them in violation of federal…
False Claims Act Enforcement in the Cyber World
Bradley’s Cybersecurity and Privacy team keeps a close eye on litigation involving cybersecurity deficiencies, and recent settlements flagged by the team as noteworthy demonstrate ways the False Claims Act can be used by the government to force companies into a new technological era. Check out this blog post by members of the Government Enforcement and…
White House Announces Strategy to Set National Requirements to Secure Personal Data Consistent with NIST
On March 1, 2023, the White House announced the National Cybersecurity Strategy, a coordinated strategy to secure data with a focus on increasing cybersecurity for every company and individual within our great country. The strategy revolves around five pillars intended to build “enduring collaboration between stakeholders across our digital ecosystem” to ensure “that the underlying…