Whistleblower Suit Alleges Georgia Tech Violated Federal Contract

Georgia Institute of Technology Accused of Failing to Protect Research Network

Background

The United States government joined a whistleblower suit and filed a complaint-in-intervention against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and its research arm, the Georgia Tech Research Corporation (GTRC). The federal government alleges that Georgia Tech and GTRC violated the False Claims Act by failing to follow federal acquisition regulations and protect their research network from malware.

The complaint alleges that Georgia Tech and GTRC failed to install anti-malware solutions on a contractor's network, despite being required to do so by federal regulations. This led to a data breach that compromised the research network and sensitive government information.

Government's Allegations

The government's complaint alleges that Georgia Tech and GTRC:

Violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims for payment to the government.
Breached their contract with the government by failing to follow federal acquisition regulations.
Negligently allowed a data breach that compromised sensitive government information.

Impact of the Data Breach

The data breach compromised the research network and sensitive government information, including:

Research data
Student records
Financial information
Intellectual property

The breach has caused significant damage to Georgia Tech's reputation and the government's research programs.

Government's Response

The government has taken several actions in response to the data breach, including:

Filing a complaint-in-intervention in the whistleblower lawsuit.
Conducting an investigation into the data breach.
Taking steps to mitigate the damage caused by the breach.

The government is seeking to recover damages from Georgia Tech and GTRC for the False Claims Act violations and the data breach.

Georgia Tech's Response

Georgia Tech has denied the allegations and said that it has taken steps to improve its cybersecurity measures.

The case is ongoing.