Recent Settlement Highlights Cybersecurity Whistleblower Risk for Government Contractors

The U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, announced last October, is designed to leverage existing whistleblower incentives for employees, or other persons with inside knowledge, to identify lapses in federal contractors' cybersecurity and privacy practices. We gave that issue in-depth treatment here, with particular focus on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California's opinion in United States ex. rel. Markus v. Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., No. 2:15-cv-02245 WBS AC, 2022 WL 297093 (E.D. Cal. Feb. 1, 2022), denying the defendant's motions for summary judgment on a majority of the relator's False Claims Act (FCA) claims.

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