Georgia Tech Faces DOJ Lawsuit Over Alleged Lapses in Cybersecurity for Defense Contracts

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who have received over $1 billion in Defense Department contracts, are facing scrutiny for allegedly failing to secure their computers and servers, citing that doing so was too “burdensome.” Since 2013, the Department of Defense has mandated that any contractor handling sensitive data provide “adequate security” on their systems. 

However, at Georgia Tech, laboratory directors reportedly resisted developing a security plan and opposed IT department efforts to implement basic antivirus and anti-malware software.

Two IT department employees filed a whistleblower lawsuit, leading the Department of Justice (DOJ) to join the case against the university and the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC), the nonprofit entity managing government contracts. The lawsuit claims that the Astrolavos Lab at Georgia Tech delayed creating and implementing a security plan, as required by the government contracts. 

When a plan was finally created in 2020, it did not cover all relevant devices, according to the DOJ. Furthermore, the lab, whose mission is to address the security of emerging technologies critical to national security, did not install or update antivirus or anti-malware tools until December 2021. The lab allegedly fabricated compliance reports sent to the Defense Department.

The reasons behind these alleged security lapses reportedly stem from campus politics. The DOJ complaint suggests that researchers bringing in substantial government funding were viewed as “star quarterba

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