A recent United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announcement highlights the fact that the government’s emphasis on cybersecurity enforcement under the False Claims Act (FCA) is not slowing down. According to the press release, four companies — RTX Corporation (RTX), Raytheon Company (Raytheon), Nightwing Group LLC, and Nightwing Intelligence Solutions LLC (collectively, Nightwing) — agreed to pay US$8.4 million to settle an FCA matter arising from a qui tamrelator’s suit alleging that Raytheon and its former subsidiary failed to comply with cybersecurity requirements in federal contracts.
Raytheon’s former director of engineering, Branson Kenneth Fowler, Sr., filed the qui tam suit in August 2021. Federal defense contractors and subcontractors like Raytheon are required to implement certain cybersecurity controls outlined in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 (NIST SP 800-171). But, according to this lawsuit, Raytheon allegedly failed to meet these requirements in connection with its work on federal contracts. The allegations centered on Raytheon’s internal network system, referred to as “DarkWeb.” Raytheon allegedly (a) used DarkWeb to store, transmit, and develop protected information in connection with its work on certain defense contracts even though that system failed to comply with NIST SP 800-171’s cybersecurity requirements; and (b) failed to develop the requisite system security plan for this...
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