Aerojet Rocketdyne, which makes propulsion and power systems for launch vehicles, missiles and satellites for NASA and the US military, has agreed to pay $9 million to settle charges it misrepresented its products' compliance with cybersecurity requirements in federal government contracts.
The El Segundo, California-based company has a deep history in American space and military contracting, including on long-term development efforts such as a hypersonic cruise missile design, recently tested by DARPA and manufactured by Aerojet Rocketdyne and Lockheed Martin.
The settlement stems from a five-year-old whistleblower lawsuit brought by former Aerojet employee Brian Markus. Federal district judge William Shubb last week approved [PDF] the out-of-court deal struck by the biz and Markus, who joined the defense contractor in 2014 as senior director of cybersecurity, compliance, and controls. He is set to receive a $2.61 million share of the False Claims Act recovery.
In his 2017 complaint, Markus alleged the company's computer systems failed to meet minimum cybersecurity standards that the federal government requires for contracts funded by NASA and the Department of Defense.
Almost immediately upon being hired, Markus found Aerojet was understaffed and underbudgeted to meet federal cybersecurity rules, according to his lawsuit's complaint [PDF].
Markus alleged he was promised a budget of $10 million to $15 million to improve the corporation's IT security, along with an internal...
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