Drew Hansen reports:
As we reported, the Office of Personnel Management’s decision not to renew two contracts with Falls Chuch-based US Investigations Services LLC led to the loss of 2,500 jobs. But it might also have set a precedent for how government handles contractor breaches.
As a reminder, in July, the background checks division at USIS was hit by a cyber attack that reportedly affected 25,000 government employees. USIS suspected it to be “state-sponsored.” The government quickly suspended work with USIS and then opted to drop its contracts with the company.
Read more on Washington Business Journal.
If the government was going to set a precedent of terminating contracts for security or data breaches, they probably should have set it years ago after a number of breaches involving SAIC, no?
In this case, I wonder if the government would have cancelled the USIS contract if it had not been for an earlier problem with USIS not running the background checks it was supposed to run.
So is it really one strike and you’re out? I think the answer is “not really, but if your security is really abysmal, maybe.”