Biden Administration Expands Cybersecurity Requirements for Government Contractors that Are Likely to Have a Broad Impact on the Private Sector

An Executive Order released by the Biden administration last month (the Cybersecurity EO) seeks to bolster the federal government’s cybersecurity defenses and resilience by imposing a variety of requirements on federal agencies and government contractors that are likely to have spillover effects in the private sector.[1] While many federal agencies and contractors already abide by existing agency-specific cybersecurity measures, the Cybersecurity EO establishes additional criteria to ensure that all information systems used or operated by federal agencies “meet or exceed” the cybersecurity requirements set forth in the Cybersecurity EO.[2] In particular, the Cybersecurity EO will directly affect companies that provide information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) services, cloud computing software, and other technology to the federal government.