On April 1, 2024, the FAR Council published a new Final Rule that establishes FAR Part 40 – but without any new provisions of substance. This Final Rule becomes effective on May 1, 2024. Subsequently, the FAR Council published a Request for Information (“RFI”) on April 10, 2024. The RFI seeks feedback on the scope and organization of FAR Part 40 and is open for comment until June 10, 2024.Continue Reading Not an April Fools Joke – FAR Part 40 Final Rule Has Been Published
On March 28, 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) issued Memorandum M-24-10, Advancing Governance, Innovation, and Risk Management for Agency Use of Artificial Intelligence (the “Memo”). This is the final version of a draft memorandum OMB released for public comment on November 1, 2023. The Memo primarily focuses on agency use of AI and outlines minimum practices for managing risks associated with the use of AI in the federal government. The Memo also provides recommendations for managing AI risks in federal procurement of AI that industry should keep in mind, specifically entities developing AI tools to sell to the federal government.Continue Reading Better Safe Than Sorry: OMB Releases Memorandum on Managing AI Risks in the Federal Government
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) recently released its new Proposed Rule pursuant to the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“CIRCIA”), which was published in the Federal Register on April 4, 2024 and is open for public comment through June 3, 2024. The Proposed Rule will be published in Part 6 of the Code of Federal Regulations, in a new Section 226, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s regulations on Domestic Security.Continue Reading CISA Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Will Significantly Impact Government Contractors, Suppliers, and Service Providers
Class Deviation Prohibits DoD from Requiring Contractors to Disclose Emissions
Over the past two years, the FAR Council has been working to develop a rule that would amend the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) to require contractors to inventory and report their greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions and climate-related financial risk in order to be eligible for Federal awards. (Prior posts are available here and here.)Continue Reading Updates on GHG Emissions Disclosure Requirements
On March 11, 2024, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) and the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) released the highly-anticipated Secure Software Development Attestation Form (also known as the “Common Form”) and on March 18, 2024 CISA’s repository for the forms went live.Continue Reading CISA Opens Repository for Submission of Software Security Attestation Forms
On January 26, 2024, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (“FedRAMP”) published a draft Emerging Technology Prioritization Framework developed in response to President Biden’s Executive Order 14110 on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (previously analyzed by our colleague here and discussed in a flash briefing available here). The Executive Order charged FedRAMP with developing a framework to prioritize Emerging Technologies in the FedRAMP authorization process, starting with generative AI.Continue Reading Emerging AI Landscape: FedRAMP Publishes Draft Emerging Technology Prioritization Framework in Response to Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence
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 past year) and 2024 Forecast (that previews what we expect to see in 2024). This Recap & Forecast covers the following five high-interest topic areas related to cybersecurity and data protection:Continue Reading Governmental Practice Cybersecurity and Data Protection, 2023 Recap & 2024 Forecast Alert
On December 12, 2023, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued guidance related to the process by which companies may request the United States Attorney General authorize delays of cyber incident disclosures, pursuant to a new Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rule. As a reminder, the SEC rule (which went into effect on Dec. 18, 2023) requires companies to disclose material cyber incidents via Form 8-K within four days of making a materiality determination. Our colleagues previously discussed the SEC rule and its new cyber reporting requirements here.Continue Reading For Limited Use Only: Guidance on National Security Delay Determinations under the SEC Cyber Reporting Rule
On November 30, 2023, the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (“DoD IG”) released a Special Report: Common Cybersecurity Weaknesses Related to the Protection of DoD Controlled Unclassified Information on Contractor Networks (the “Report”). Between 2018 and 2023, the DoD IG reports it conducted five audits related to DoD contractors’ protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (“CUI”), in accordance with the cybersecurity requirements in National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) Special Publication (“SP”) 800-171. Additionally, the Report states that since 2022, the DoD IG has provided support/assessments for five investigations under the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Civil Cyber Fraud Initiative (“CCFI”).[1] Continue Reading DoD IG Report Provides Insight Into Common Missteps When Protecting CUI
Well, the wait is over. Just as 2023 came to a close, on December 26, 2023, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) published the much-anticipated Proposed Rule for the DoD’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (“CMMC”) program (the “Proposed Rule”). It has been just over two years since “CMMC 2.0” was announced in November 2021 (which we previously discussed here). And while there is nothing particularly surprising in the Proposed Rule, there certainly are several notable additions and clarifications. Below we outline the key portions of the Proposed Rule that will be of particular importance to defense contractors.Continue Reading New Year, New Rules: The CMMC Proposed Rule is Here