Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

Holding government contractors responsible for cybersecurity is trickier than it sounds

By

The federal government wants to hold defense contractors accountable for the cybersecurity of their supply chains but that’s no easy feat, experts said recently.

On March 26th, industry representatives told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee about attempting to tackle cyber threats as a federal contractor. Much of the hearing was focused on one specific issue: increasingly complex levels of supply chains make it difficult for prime contractor to ensure all subcontractors are upholding cybersecurity protections. And that ever-lengthening chain increases the possibility of compromised information or cyberattacks.

“I don’t know why we don’t hold the larger contractors who are responsible for the contract to make sure the subcontractors they are hiring have protections,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., said. “Somebody has to be held accountable.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2019/03/holding-government-contractors-responsible-cybersecurity-trickier-it-sounds/155862/

Strict notification and disclosure requirements apply to defense contractors

By

Businesses that seek to obtain and preserve contracts with the United States government, or to deal in certain enumerated defense articles and services, are subject to strict privacy regulations imposed by the U.S. government.

For those under contract (or subcontract) with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplements (DFARS) place stringent minimum security requirements and reporting obligations that must be met, otherwise a business could face financial penalties or termination of its contract.

Businesses that export and import defense articles or services and related technical data must comply with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which comprise approval, registration and records maintenance requirements. If a violation of ITAR is voluntarily reported, the penalties imposed by the U.S. Department of State’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) can be reduced.

Businesses subject to DFARS and ITAR should have a compliance program in place that includes an appropriate response to any security incident.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d5fda8c7-68e4-4a1c-a4f5-7e387e51741d

Pentagon tells leaders to talk more with contractors — and less to the public and press

By

Even as Pentagon leaders restrain military officials’ contacts with the public and the press, they are pushing for more engagement with defense contractors.

On March 1, U.S. Air Force leaders suspended all interviews, embeds, and base visits for media organizations “until further notice.” The following day, Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan — a former Boeing executive — sent a memo to the Pentagon’s civilian and military leadership encouraging wider communication with defense contractors.

“Cultivating a competitive mindset requires that we optimize our relationships with industry to drive higher performance while always remaining within the letter and spirit of ethics and procurement regulations,” Shanahan wrote in the March 2 memo, entitled “Engaging With Industry.” “Leaders must talk with personnel about the importance of having dialogue with industry and help them understand the parameters for doing so.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.defenseone.com/business/2018/03/pentagon-official-directed-leaders-speak-more-contractors-just-one-day-after-ban-press/146679

DoD reports spike in contractors in Iraq

By

The number of civilian contractors supporting U.S. and coalition operations in Iraq against the Islamic State is on the rise, even as major military operations there have ceased, according to new figures released by U.S. Central Command,

From January 2017 to January 2018 the number of Defense Department contractors in Iraq rose 37 percent, from 3,592 to 4,927, according to statistics CENTCOM released last week.

The numbers are reported quarterly and have risen steadily over the last year. For example, contractors supporting base operations rose from 564 contractors in January 2017 to 827 contractors in January 2018. The number of contracted translators rose from 377 in 2017 to 805 in 2018 and the number of contractors supporting logistics and maintenance rose from 1,156 to 1,480.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/flashpoints/2018/01/16/dod-reports-spike-in-contractors-in-iraq/

Why are government contractors cutting their cybersecurity budgets?

By

Government contractors reduced their spending on cybersecurity in the past year, despite several high-profile data breaches, a new survey shows.

American Flag 2About 52 percent of businesses reported a slight decrease in cyber spending in the past year. About 17 percent said their cyber spending increased dramatically, while 31 percent said it increased slightly, according to a new survey from contracting analysis firm Deltek.

“We’re surprised that over half of the companies . . . had experienced decreased spending in cybersecurity,” Deltek Vice President Kevin Plexico said during a call discussing the results. “Our best guess is that the ones that are decreasing are probably not the ones that have had breaches.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2015/07/government-contractors-not-waiting-around-federal-spending-new-survey-shows/117877/

Contractors brace for possible government shutdown

By

The threat of a federal government shutdown is even more bad news for a  defense industry struggling to weather sequestration.

Following a summer of Pentagon furloughs and with other sequestration cuts  starting to sink in, the government — caught between a gridlocked Congress and a  dug-in White House — is marching to the brink of a complete halt, which industry  sources say could do irreparable damage to defense firms.

“A shutdown means that there’s no additional funding that is  made available for contracts,” said Elizabeth Ferrell, a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge who’s worked in government contracts law for more than 30 years.  “So with very limited exceptions, there are no new contract awards, no  additional funding obligated to existing contracts, contractors are faced with  performing when there are no government people around, government people will be  furloughed.”

Defense contractors would have to work in a vacuum, she said, when normally  they rely on give-and-take with government employees. “The government will cease  to function, except for a very limited number of essential people,” she  predicted.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/defense-firms-brace-for-hard-hit-of-a-shutdown-97179.html.

 

Bipartisan letter suggests Pentagon include contractors in staff cuts

By

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers has asked the Defense Department to rethink its plan to cut staff by 20 percent at top headquarters offices, asking for the Pentagon to exhaust all other options before taking negative personnel actions.

Reps. Bill Young, R-Fla., and Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., chairman and ranking member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, said in a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that department cuts should be made after careful analysis, and not based on “arbitrary goals.” Hagel announced the planned workforce reductions in July.

The appropriators called for an organizational review that “considers recommendations to eliminate certain functions and certain contracts entirely, rather than across-the-board cuts to all functions.”

Young and Visclosky emphasized the Pentagon’s legal obligation to conduct a cost comparison before replacing any civilian employees with contract workers.  In trimming the workforce, they said the “total workforce should be considered,” including contractors, and that the review should identify any contractors that are “illegally performing inherently governmental functions.”

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2013/09/bipartisan-proposal-suggests-pentagon-include-contractors-staff-cuts/70336/?oref=govexec_today_nl 

Who are the top federal contractors?

By

Each year, Washington Technology magazine ranks the top 100 federal contractors based on sales of IT, systems integration, communications, engineering and other high-tech products and services.  They analyze and profile these firms by factors such as industry sector, those who are newcomers, those who are publicly traded or privately held, small business status, participation in Defense Department and civilian agency contracts, and many other factors.   To access this list click here: http://washingtontechnology.com/toplists/top-100-lists/2013.aspx.

Washington Technology also ranks the 50 fastest growing small businesses in the government contracting market, based on their compound annual growth rate from 2007 through 2011.  You can view the “Fast 50” list at: http://washingtontechnology.com/fast50lists/fast-50-lists/2012.aspx.

The fastest growing 8(a) firms are ranked at: http://washingtontechnology.com/top25lists/top-25-lists/2012.aspx.

Bleak outlook for global defense industry

By

Deloitte LLP’s 2013 “Global Defense Outlook,” released June 10, 2013, is basically all bad news. Even the silver linings turned to lead when we talked them over this morning with the chief of the defense practice at the giant consulting firm, retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald.

As US defense spending staggers, there are some other places on the planet where military budgets are on the rise, from the usual suspects in East Asia and the Persian Gulf to unexpected players in Africa. The amounts, however, aren’t anywhere near big enough to offset US and European declines.

Defense ministries and contractors have gotten used to powerful growth since 9/11. Indeed, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute calculates the boom began even before that, with worldwide military expenditure rising every year since 1998 – until 2012, when they finally started down again. Of the (roughly) 195 countries in the world, just 50 account for 97 percent of global defense spending, the Deloitte study calculates, and, said Wald, that “top 50,” taken as a group, “are going to reduce their spending.”

That may or may not be good news for global peace, but it’s tough news for the defense industry.

It’s not just that the pie is getting smaller: Traditional defense firms’ percentage slice of that pie is shrinking as well. That’s because what little growth is happening is increasingly moving away from old-fashioned heavy metal – tanks, ships, planes – to information technology, from sensors to communications to cybersecurity. An invasion of IT companies from the much larger and more dynamic civilian economy hardly bodes well for traditional defense firms.

Keep reading this article at: http://breakingdefense.com/2013/06/10/deloitte-details-bleak-outlook-for-global-defense-industry/

Top 50 Defense Spenders Worldwide
Top 50 Defense Spenders Worldwide
Source: Deloitte LLP’s 2013 “Global Defense Outlook,” released June 10, 2013

Fiscal cliff leaves contractors guessing

By

With the deadline bearing down, Congress and the White House have floated desperate plans to reach an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff and prevent sequestration cuts from gouging the Defense Department and other federal agencies. Each day that passes means the prospect becomes more and more likely the nation goes over the cliff on Jan. 2.

The Defense Department stands to absorb a 10 percent across-the-board cut to planned defense spending over the next decade that amounts to roughly $500 billion. Every branch of the military will suffer. The individuals who might suffer the most are the contractors either working directly for the Defense Department or the ones working within the defense industry.

Industry execs like Bob Stevens, Lockheed Martin’s CEO, have stood up and warned Congress and the White House that the sequestration cuts mean his company, like many other defense firms, will have to lay off waves of employees. Those prognostications drew headlines in the presidential campaign when it appeared the defense contractors would receive notices warning of massive layoffs just days before the election.  The issue drifted when the White House informed the defense industry that they notices would not be needed.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/12/28/fiscal-cliffs-leaves-contractors-guessing/.

 

Contracting News

Read More

Contracting Tips

Read More

GTPAC News

Read More

Georgia Tech News

Read More