Author: Thomas Gnau, Dayton Daily News / Source: Government Technology US
The directive will require businesses working with the federal government to protect their cyber data, or have a detailed plan for doing so, by year’s end.
Flickr/Yuri Samoilov
(TNS) — Federal contractors need to better protect their government data, or they could lose their business with the government.
A looming new federal security directive will require businesses working with the federal government to protect their cyber data, or have a detailed plan for doing so, by year’s end.
The directive is called “NIST 800-171” — or sometimes just “rule 171” — and it will control whether companies from defense engineering firms to janitorial outfits can do business with the federal government.
For local contractors, the stakes are high. Nearly 500 area companies must comply, said Philip Raterman, director of the University of Dayton Research Institute’s Fastlane division.
And that number does not count sub-contractors, said Rob Gillen, program manager and senior electrical engineer for Fastlane.
“This is becoming a thing for Ohio,” Raterman said.
The concern is a timely one. Recently, the “WannaCry” ransomware cyber attack hit at least 74 countries. Retailer Brooks Brothers said Friday that some of its customer payment information was compromised at some stores between April 4, 2016 and March 1, 2017.
Brooks Brothers customers are at risk of having had credit card data — names, account numbers, expiration dates and verification codes — stolen, media reports said.
“We are finding that a lot of companies are not aware of this requirement and face losing their government contracts,” said Tamara Wamsley, a strategist with…
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