1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Upping the Cyber Oversight Ante: DoD Deploys DCMA to Audit Contractor Supply Chain Compliance

Upping the Cyber Oversight Ante: DoD Deploys DCMA to Audit Contractor Supply Chain Compliance

Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.28.19

The Defense Department has unveiled plans to audit contractors’ supply chain compliance with the DFARS Safeguarding Clause 252.204-7012. Under the auspices of 252.244-7001, Contractor Purchasing System Administration, Under Secretary of Defense Ellen Lord has directed the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) to review contractors’ purchasing systems with the intent of verifying compliance with the Safeguarding Clause’s flowdown requirements. Notably though, the scope of DCMA’s review appears broader than the Clause’s textual requirements. Specifically, DCMA will review contractor procedures to:

  • Ensure that Tier 1 Level Suppliers are receiving properly marked Covered Defense Information (CDI), or instructions on how to do so; and
  • “Assess compliance” of Tier 1 Level Suppliers with both the Clause and NIST SP 800-171.

The memorandum is the latest signal from the DoD that it views the Safeguarding Clause’s flowdown requirements as more than a check-the-box exercise and an increasingly important piece of its overall cybersecurity.

Contacts

Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 03.04.26

Sixth Circuit Finds EFAA Arbitration Bar to Entire Case — Not Just Sexual Harassment Claims

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held, in an issue of first impression for that court, that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFAA) renders an employer’s pre-dispute arbitration agreement unenforceable as to a plaintiff's entire lawsuit, whenever the lawsuit includes a viable sexual harassment claim....