THE United States Department of Justice announced that Honeywell Aerospace Inc. has agreed to pay $2,042,518 to settle False Claims Act allegations related to failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in a U.S. Department of Defense contract.
The settlement concerns a period from April 2020 through December 2023, during which a Honeywell business unit allegedly submitted false claims for payment by not adhering to cybersecurity standards specified in NIST SP 800-171 for one of its networks, as required by the contract and governing regulations. Honeywell Aerospace is the Phoenix, Arizona–based aerospace arm that became a standalone public company on 29 June 2023; prior to that, it was part of Honeywell International Inc.
The case originated from a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act, with the whistleblower, Rachel Tenney, a former Honeywell employee, set to receive $375,823 as her share of the settlement. The resolution was achieved through a coordinated effort involving the Department of Justice Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
The Department emphasised that government contractors handling defence information must comply with cybersecurity standards to protect sensitive data, and the settlement notes that the claims resolved are allegations with no determination of liability. The original matter is captioned United States ex rel. Rachel Tenney v. Honeywell International Inc., Civil Action No. 3:22-cv-129 (W.D.N.C.). The DOJ press release and the related press materials form the basis of the publicly stated facts.