Cyber Barbarians & Federal Data Breaches In 2006

In 2006, the lost Veterans Affairs laptop compromising the personal information of 26.5 million veterans represented just one of the hordes of information security breaches that flooded federal agencies, triggering Congressional hearings, GAO and IG investigations, and new OMB information security standards for federal agencies and contractors alike. In his article "When Cyber Barbarians Storm the Security Walls: The Mounting Risks of Security Breaches to Federal Agencies & Contractors" published in the Federal Contracts Report on October 3, 2006 (http://www.crowell.com/pdf/Security-Breach_Bodenheimer.pdf), David Z. Bodenheimer identifies the evolving rules governing federal information security and explains how the escalating federal outsourcing trends mean greater opportunities for contractors in the IT and cybersecurity business, but also that such opportunities come with mounting risks of tougher Congressional scrutiny, federal enforcement actions, and third-party litigation.