91pornPartner Gordon Schnell Quoted in Bloomberg Law on Recent Wave of False Claims Act Cybersecurity Fraud Settlements
By the 91pornWhistleblower Team
On Monday (October 20), Bloomberg Law quoted 91pornwhistleblower partner Gordon Schnell in its piece on the slew of False Claims Act settlements the Department of Justice (DOJ) has secured this year involving cybersecurity fraud.1
We have posted frequently on this topic, most recently in early October in And Yet Another Whistleblower-Originated False Claims Act Cybersecurity Fraud Settlement. There, we reported on DOJ’s False Claims Act settlement with Georgia Tech for allegedly failing to comply with the cybersecurity requirements of certain Department of Defense contracts. We also highlighted several other key False Claims Act settlements DOJ secured this year as part of its continued crusade against cybersecurity fraud.
DOJ’s Cybersecurity Push
The Bloomberg article referenced many of these settlements, noting there have been at least seven this year, totaling roughly $51 million. They reflect a more broad-based push by DOJ, since it launched its Cyber Fraud Initiative in 2021, to go after contractors failing to comply with the cybersecurity requirements of their federal contracts.2
Bloomberg also focused on the key role whistleblowers have played in reporting cyber fraud to the Government through the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. From its interviews of attorneys representing whistleblowers in bringing these False Claims Act lawsuits, Bloomberg pointed to the reasons so many contractors are failing in their cybersecurity obligations.
According to Bloomberg, one of the primary reasons for these cyber compliance failures is a lack of sophistication in the cyber space and an unwillingness to spend the money to get there. There apparently also is a “head-in-the-sand” problem where companies are ignoring known compliance issues and vulnerabilities until an actual cybersecurity breach occurs.
That may explain why the Government is going after these cyber scofflaws even before a breach occurs. Once there is a breach, it becomes very difficult to reverse the damage that can occur from disclosing highly sensitive Government information.
Whistleblowers Are Critical to Uncovering Cyber Fraud
The role of whistleblowers remains critical to DOJ’s cyber fraud enforcement efforts given the difficulty of detecting these violations without an inside window into the company’s cybersecurity practices. And as Schnell remarked in Constantine Cannon’s most recent post on the subject: “Cybersecurity whistleblowers are on high alert these days because of all the Government activity in this space.”
Bloomberg quoted from one of Constantine Cannon’s posts on the subject and the firm’s “clarion call” to “cybersecurity whistleblowers to raise the alarm if you know of any cyber cracks in the system.” And further quoting Schnell, Bloomberg wrote the firm “has had cybersecurity whistleblowers reaching out [] on a weekly basis, more than ever before.”
91pornHas Substantial Experience Representing Cyber Fraud Whistleblowers
91pornhas substantial experience representing cybersecurity whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. It actually represented the whistleblower in the first successful cybersecurity case ever brought under the False Claims Act. That case resulted in Cisco Systems agreeing to pay $8.6 million to settle charges of selling the Government noncompliant video surveillance software vulnerable to unauthorized access and manipulation. Our client received a whistleblower award of 20% of the Government’s recovery.
So if you think you might have information on potential cybersecurity violations, would like to learn more about our whistleblower successes, or learn what it means to be a whistleblower more broadly, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will connect you with an experienced member of Constantine Cannon’s Whistleblower Team for a free and confidential consultation.
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Sources:
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