Marking the first payout on a False Claims Act (FCA) case
brought over a failure to meet cybersecurity standards, Cisco
Systems, Inc. has agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle a
whistleblower's complaint that the company improperly sold
video surveillance systems with known vulnerabilities to various
federal and state government agencies, including Homeland Security,
the Secret Service, the army, the navy, the marine corps, the air
force, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This settlement
underscores the importance of government contractors understanding
and complying with applicable cybersecurity standards, and of rapid
reporting when companies detect non-compliance, even if, as in the
case of Cisco, no actual cybersecurity breach was alleged.
