ALERT: New Rules for *ALL* Federal Government Contractors
The times they are a changin’ as Bob Dylan wrote. If you are a contractor to ANY civilian executive branch (FCEB) agency [and also DoD contractors], this will impact you.
Failure to comply could bar you from getting contracts, subject you to civil false claims act lawsuits and even criminal charges.
So what is changing? This is still a draft and you have a only a couple of weeks if you want to file a comment.
The FAR Council sets the federal acquisition rules. Here is some of what they are proposing.
#1: **ALL** federal contractors who have access to controlled unclassified information (CUI) will need to comply with NIST SP 800-171 REV 3. Important note is that this is different than what is required for DoD contractors who need to comply with REV 2 instead. That is going to be a big problem for contractors who work for FCEB agencies and also the DoD.
One more thing about contractors with CUI – it will be up to each agency as to whether they are going to require a third party CMMC-like certification and if you have multiple contracts, you may have different requirements for different contracts.
For DEFENSE contractors, if you have contracts worth more than $5 million you will now have to disclose and potentially mitigate foreign ownership interests. For cleared defense contractors, this is old news called FOCI for Foreign Ownership Control or Influence. Now this will apply to defense contractors who do not hold a clearance.
All contractors will have to report breaches within 72 hours.
The proposed clause that would have required contractors to report potential breaches has been deleted.
The government, based on a recent EO, will be accelerating its migration to post quantum cryptography. Will that migrate to defense contractors? That is not clear but don’t be surprised if it does.
And, of course, CMMC phase 2 is coming up in November and that will escalate the pressure on contractors regarding CMMC compliance.
If you have contracts, any contracts, with the federal government and you are not on top of all of this, contact us for assistance. Credit: Skadden and National Law Review
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