By Alisa L. Chestler and Mysty Blagg
Cyber whistleblowing is the newest and hottest area of exposure for organizations. All government contractors and grant recipients must develop an understanding of the use of the False Claims Act (FCA) to address cybersecurity concerns. In the last month, there have been several significant cases and actions from the Biden Administration that deserve close attention.
Rapidly evolving technological advances, new forms of attacks and lack of government cybersecurity enforcement have created an atmosphere in which potential non-compliance or misstatements could create opportunities that whistleblowers will soon feast upon.
The United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative (the Initiative) was first announced in October 2021. The Initiative paved the way for use of the FCA to address government contractors and grant recipients that submit false claims misrepresenting compliance with cybersecurity standards related to information technology, software, cloud-based storage, and other related services. Generally, the FCA provides a civil remedy when a party knowingly presents or causes a false claim to the government for payment. Any individual or organization who submits or causes to be submitted claims for payment to the government is subject to potential FCA liability. One way a claim can be false is when an organization attests to or certifies compliance with terms of the government contract or the regulatory...
A state announcement comes amid a congressional inquiry into Medicaid fraud but state officials said the cases are not related to federal pressure This premium article is for members. If you are on...