Rec. A.2.a-e: The DoD OIG recommended that the Principal Director for Defense Pricing and Contracting, in coordination with the appropriate DoD Component responsible for developing policy: a. revise its current policy to require DoD Component contracting offices, as part of the Request for Proposal and source selection processes, and requiring activities, during the performance of the contract, to assess whether contractors comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology requirements for protecting controlled unclassified information before contract award and throughout the contracts' period of performance. b. develop and implement policy requiring DoD Component contracting offices and requiring activities to maintain an accurate accounting of contractors that access, maintain, or develop controlled unclassified information as part of their contractual obligations. c. revise its current policy to include language that will require DoD Component contracting offices and requiring activities to validate contractor compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-171 requirements. d. require DoD Component contracting offices, in coordination with DoD requiring activities, to develop and implement a risk-based process to verify that contractors comply with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement clause 252.204-7012 for protecting controlled unclassified information. e. require DoD Component contracting offices, in coordination with DoD requiring activities, to take corrective actions against contractors that fail to meet the National Institute of Standards and Technology and contract requirements for protecting controlled unclassified information.