Lawmakers and Regulators Recognize Crypto and Blockchain Present Unique Problems for Traditional Enforcement Mechanisms

Congressional Democrats Seek Increased Oversight Into Crypto Matters Following Ransomware Attacks A group of Democratic senators and congressmen are calling on the Department of Justice, the State Department, the Department of the Treasury, and Homeland Security to beef up efforts to protect against the recent wave of ransomware attacks. The group, comprised of senators...
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DOJ Announces Creation of Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team

Posted on October 8, 2021
On October 6, 2021, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (“NCET”) to investigate and prosecute criminal misuses of cryptocurrency. NCET’s particular focus will be on crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and money laundering infrastructure actors, to include the tracing and recovery...
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Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative to Hold Government Contractors Responsible for Cybersecurity

On October 6, 2021, the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced the Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative (the “Initiative”) to combat cyber threats, specifically to sensitive information and critical systems of the United States Government (USG). In launching the Initiative, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco made clear that a primary focus of the Initiative is to...
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Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (“CAAC”) Memorandum: Class Deviation Regarding Executive Order 14042 Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors

Posted on September 30, 2021
On September 30, 2021, the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (“CAAC”) released a memorandum authorizing all civilian United States government agencies to issue a class deviation to implement Executive Order 14042, “Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors.” Attached to the CAAC memo is a FAR Deviation Clause (the “Clause”) that CAAC states “is...
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New Vaccination Requirements Imposed On Government Contractors and Other Employers and Employees

On Thursday, September 9, 2021, President Biden announced new federal COVID-19 vaccination requirements, outlined below, which will be incumbent on federal government contractors and their employees, federal branch employees, as well as private sector employers with over 100 employees. Federal Government Contractors President Biden signed an Executive Order on Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for...
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Recommended Minimum Standards for Vendor or Developer Verification (Testing) of Software Under Executive Order (EO) 14028

Posted on July 7, 2021
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was tasked with producing guidelines on vendors’ source code testing in accordance with President Biden’s Cybersecurity Executive Order published on May 12, 2021. NIST published these guidelines on July 7, 2021. The guidelines include “recommended minimums for verification of code by developers.” 
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