By Susan Booth Cassidy and Catlin Meade (January 2, 2018, 2:06 PM EST) -- Since August 2015, defense contractors have been on notice that they were required to implement the security controls in National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 no later than Dec. 31, 2017, on covered contractor information systems. Although the focus has been on meeting this deadline, contractors should add to their New Year's resolutions compliance with other areas of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 252.204-7012 (DFARS cyber rule) and confirm that their existing processes and procedures anticipate how the U.S. Department of Defense will measure compliance with the rule in the year to come. Summarized below are responses to some of the key questions that contractors should address come the new year....