Cybersecurity and supply chain protection are becoming increasingly important aspects of government contracting, especially as federal agencies place an increased compliance burden on contractors in this era of heightened attention to attacks by foreign agents and hacker groups like Anonymous and LulzSec. So, what’s a contractor to do to protect itself and its government customer?
Here at PSC and SmartContracting blog we often espouse the importance of up front planning for all parties to ensure success in government acquisitions and programs. In our most recent issue of PSC’s quarterly Service Contractor magazine, Michael Howard, a principal cybersecurity consultant for Microsoft, explains how the same holds true for cybersecurity.
While firewalls and virus protection are important aspects of defending your networks, so too is having clean codes, especially when it comes to avoiding a successful attack by a hacker group bent on sharing your information with the world.
The new set of Republican Cybersecurity Task Force recommendations have also sharpened the focus on the cybersecurity challenges facing our nation. In the same issue of Service Contractor magazine we spoke with the co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus—Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Jim Langevin, D-R.I.—to get their take on where the myriad cyber security legislation is going this Congress.
You can read those story (and others) here.
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