On July 31, 2025, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $9.8 million settlement with Illumina, Inc. (Illumina) to resolve alleged False Claims Act (FCA) violations related to cybersecurity vulnerabilities and shortcomings in its genomic sequencing products. Of the total settlement, $1.9 million will be paid to the qui tam whistleblower who brought […]
National Security & Digital Crimes
CISA and FBI Joint Update on Scattered Spider: Evolving Threats and Mitigation Guidance
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and international partners issued an updated advisory on July 29, 2025, highlighting the evolving tactics, techniques, and procedures (TPPs) of the cybercriminal group Scattered Spider. First identified in 2023, this group is notorious for targeting large enterprises and their contracted IT help desks, […]
New York Department of Health Issues Urgent Cybersecurity Warning Following U.S. Strikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities
The New York State Department of Health has issued an urgent cybersecurity advisory (the Advisory) warning of increased threat levels and a higher likelihood of cybersecurity attacks from Iranian state-backed actors following U.S. military strikes on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities in Iran. The Advisory warns that “intelligence sources indicate a high likelihood […]
Trump Administration Releases Cyber Executive Order Revealing Renewed Strategy for U.S. Cybersecurity
On June 6, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) on Sustaining Select Efforts to Strengthen the Nation’s Cybersecurity, amending certain prior directives established by the Biden and Obama administrations. Importantly, the administration’s new directive maintains continuity of the cybersecurity goals of prior administrations and demonstrates that cybersecurity remains a bipartisan priority. However, the […]
DOJ Settles Another False Claims Act Case for Alleged Failures in Implementing NIST SP 800-171 and Basic Cybersecurity Controls
On May 1, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement under the False Claims Act (FCA) involving defense contractors Raytheon Company (Raytheon), RTX Corporation (RTX), and Nightwing Group—the successor owner to one of Raytheon’s cybersecurity business lines (collectively “the Companies”). The Companies agreed to pay $8.4 million to resolve allegations of noncompliance […]