Cybersecurity, workers' comp and the defense supply chain

New federal cybersecurity standards for the ‘defense supply chain’ may impact workers’ comp data. (Photo: Shutterstock.com)

I recently read an article in the Orlando Florida Business Journal describing a letter that a local employer received from a defense prime contractor. The letter advised that “if the (local company) wasn’t working to become compliant with new federal cybersecurity regulations, it was in jeopardy of losing out on future work on an (existing) contract worth $750,000” (a major contract for this small employer).

For several years, the Workers’ Compensation Institute (WCI) had been reviewing the new cybersecurity standards, referred to as CMMC, to determine whether the standards applied to workers’ compensation. There are three significant areas of concern: