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No Post-Thanksgiving Break for Cyber – DoD and NIST Publish New Guidance

Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.01.17

Both the Department of Defense and National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) have put pen to paper and provided new information for contractors looking to comply with DFARS 252.204-7012 and its accompanying cybersecurity requirements under NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-171.  Earlier this week, the DoD posted guidance explaining that contractors can still use system security plans (SSPs) under the original version of NIST SP 800-171 to “document implementation” under the DFARS Clause, despite that version not including SSPs as a security control requirement.  Separately, NIST published a draft of NIST SP 800-171A, Assessing Security Requirements for Controlled Unclassified Information, providing guidance to both contractors and their customers regarding how to conduct assessments under NIST SP 800-171.  Importantly, the draft is open to comment through December 27, 2017, providing contractors with a unique opportunity to weigh in on how their customers may ultimately judge compliance with the DFARS Clause’s security requirements.


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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future....

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