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Double Whammy: NIST Unveils Draft Enhanced Security Requirements and Revisions to NIST SP 800-171

Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.21.19

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released drafts of NIST SP 800-171 Revision 2 and a companion standard NIST SP 800-171B, designed to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) from advanced persistent threats (APTs). 800-171B details 33 “enhanced” controls, reflecting core principles of penetration resistance, damage-limiting operations, and resiliency. Specific controls include those related to segregation, hunt teams, AI-enabled tools, IoT security, and supply chain – some of which arguably do not have firm industry definitions.

Unlike the non-substantive updates to Revision 2, 800-171B will apply only to contractors handling CUI that the government determines is part of a “critical program” or is a “high value asset.” A cost estimate from the Department of Defense – expected to quickly implement 800-171B – anticipates that less than one percent of its contractors will be impacted but that (allowable) costs could exceed $1 million.

Comments for all three documents are due July 19, 2019. 

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future....

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