Plain-language guidance on the cybersecurity requirements that attach to federal contracts — FAR 52.204-21, DFARS 252.204-7012, CMMC, CUI, NIST SP 800-171, FedRAMP, incident reporting, and the clauses that turn cybersecurity into procurement risk.
Before any FAR or DFARS clause applies, federal and state law already requires your business to secure data and report breaches — the FTC Act, all-50-state breach laws, and rules like GLBA and HIPAA. The contractor requirements build on top of that legal baseline. Make sure you meet it first.
Most defense contractors store covered defense information somewhere they do not own. DFARS 252.204-7012 has a specific paragraph about that, and it asks for more than a vendor's assurance.
Read more →NIST's new SP 1352 walks small contractors through how a CUI security assessment actually works - and states expressly that CMMC still leverages SP 800-171 Revision 2 and SP 800-171A Revision 2, not Revision 3.
Read more →Most contractors read "bulk-power system" and stop. That is a mistake. The executive order behind this rulemaking defines "procurement" in federal-acquisition terms, tasks the FAR Council with a rule, and reaches installation services — which is to say, it reaches contractors.
Read more →Nearly every defense contractor can recite the 72-hour reporting deadline. Far fewer have the credential required to file the report — and that credential cannot be obtained in 72 hours.
Read more →GovConCyber is a free legal reference — not a law firm. We cover the federal cybersecurity rules that apply to government contractors: what they require, who they apply to, and what you need to do. Start here if you're new to the site.
Answer a few questions about your contract type and data to get a plain-language summary of your obligations.
Get started →Start with the fundamentals: what the key frameworks are, why they exist, and how they affect your contracts.
Read the basics →Plain-language definitions for CUI, CMMC, DFARS, FedRAMP, and many other key terms.
Browse the glossary →Original, source-anchored analysis on the harder questions — where requirements, contracts, data-handling, and enforcement intersect.
The obligations that reach contractors outside the CMMC conversation — the FAR baseline, civilian-agency clauses, cloud, incident reporting, and enforcement.
How to identify, mark, handle, and flow down the categories of information federal contracts protect — CUI and beyond.
FAR, DFARS, frameworks, and agency-specific rules
State-level cyber laws affecting government contractors
Sector-specific obligations: defense, healthcare, finance, and more
Requirement triage, roadmaps, educational self-checks, and reference aids for planning compliance work.
Original analysis — beyond CMMC, protected information, maps and trackers
Actions, penalties, and False Claims Act case law
Cybersecurity 101 and a plain-language glossary
GovConCyber is a free reference first. When you need that analysis applied — explained to a room, or mapped to your actual contracts — these are the ways to go further.
Plain-language sessions on CMMC, CUI, and the requirements beyond CMMC — for conferences, bar associations, APEX Accelerator programs, and internal briefings.
Explore speaking topics →The Compliance Roadmap Assessment™ — a structured readiness review that maps which requirements apply to your contracts and what to prioritize. Not a CMMC assessment or legal advice.
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