* This is the first in a multi-part series on the new FARS 4.19 clause.
Recently, the US Government issued a final rule to the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) to “add a new subpart and contract clause for the basic safeguarding of contractor information systems that process, store, or transmit Federal contract information”. This is a new mandatory regulation, similar to the requirements established by the US Department of Defense with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).
On May 16, 2016, the final FAR ruling was issued, 48 C.F.R. Part 4.19 establishing minimum safeguarding requirements for federal contractor information systems and expressly provide that Federal agencies and departments may impose additional specific requirements. The new FAR regulation goes into effect on June 16, 2016. DOD, as mentioned in previous blogs has already amended its regulations to require covered contractors to comply with DFARS 252.204-7012. The new FAR 4.19 clause applies to all federal contractor information systems that are owned or operated by a contractor that processes, stores, or transmits Federal contract information. While the new regulation does not require compliance with any specific NIST standards, unlike the DFARS regulation that requires NIST SP 800-171 compliance, the new regulation lists many of the same 14 control families detailed in 800-171.
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