Whistleblowers who have information about cybersecurity fraud may bring lawsuits under the False Claims Act.
Today, the national law firm Baron & Budd announced that it is dedicating significant resources from its whistleblower practice to investigate allegations of cybersecurity fraud.
The U.S. Department of Justice is making the prosecution of cybersecurity cases a priority with the implementation of the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative. When companies contract with the federal government, they are required to abide by certain cybersecurity regulations and standards. These requirements help ensure government information is protected from cyber attacks.
Companies commit cybersecurity fraud when they knowingly or recklessly disregard their obligations to comply with government cybersecurity regulations. Most commonly they will misrepresent the fact that they have not complied with their cybersecurity obligations. Also, companies violate cybersecurity requirements if they are aware of a cybersecurity breach and fail to report it to the federal government.
“Whistleblowers are essential in the identification and investigation of cybersecurity fraud,” said Baron & Budd shareholder, Andrew Miller. “Maintaining the integrity of the federal government’s data and information is critical to the nation’s economic stability and security. Company insiders are well-positioned to know of these critical failures.”
With a proposed cybersecurity budget of $18.7 billion in 2021, the federal government has made cybersecurity issues a top priority and requests the assistance of whistleblowers to come forward with information to aid in the enforcement of cybersecurity fraud.
Whistleblowers who have information that their employer or competitors are intentionally failing to comply with the cybersecurity requirements in their government contracts or committing other types of cybersecurity compliance fraud may bring lawsuits under the False Claims Act (FCA). The FCA allows whistleblowers to receive a portion of the money recovered by the government if the case results in a settlement or a successful verdict.
If you are aware of cybersecurity compliance violations, please contact our whistleblower attorneys for more information about your potential case.
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