The deal follows the announcement of Binding Operational Directive 20-01 last September, in which CISA laid out plans to create a vulnerability disclosure policy (VDP). It directed agencies to publish a VDP policy on their websites within 180 days, describing what systems it covers and how security researchers can report bugs. It also mandates timelines for acknowledging and dealing with each bug. Government technology contractor Endyna will support the reporting platform under a one-year software as a service (SaaS) contract. The arrangement includes an optional extension of up to four years. The VDP effort has been brewing for a while. CISA originally published the draft of BDO 20-01 in November 2019, inviting public comment on the issue. The final BDO — and the forthcoming program — will carry forward some of CISA's original suggestions, including the mandatory inclusion of all new computing systems in the scope of an agency's VDP.