The year 2021 will likely be seen as a defining moment in the history of cybersecurity enforcement. For the healthcare industry and government contractors, in particular, the government’s expanding focus on cybersecurity brings increased risks and penalties for noncompliance with stricter cyber standards and requirements.
In December 2020, in widely quoted remarks, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston told the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Civil False Claims Act and Qui Tam Enforcement Institute that “cybersecurity related fraud is another area where we could see enhanced False Claims Act activity.” Referring to the importance of “robust cybersecurity protections,” Granston continued, “Where such protections are a material requirement of payment or participation under a government program or contract, the knowing failure to include such protections could give rise to False Claims Act liability.”1
In April 2021, following the “worst year ever” for ransomware attacks, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) formed the Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force as part of the effort to “enhance the Department’s capability to disrupt, investigate, and prosecute ransomware attacks.”2 The Task Force, which includes representatives from the Department’s National Security Division, Criminal Division, Civil Division, Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys and FBI, is charged with “disrupt[ing] and dismantle[ing] the ecosystem that supports ransomware, as well as the means...
When asked to comment on recent claims by the head of Taiwan's regional foreign affairs department that the Taiwan authorities are conducting dialogues and consultations with politicians and socia...