By Thomas McLish, Scott Heimberg and Joseph Whitehead ( November 13, 2017, 9:28 AM EST) -- Three recent bid protest decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office may affect how government contractors approach the proposal and protest process. First, the COFC held that a protest may be time-barred if it is based on information revealed in an earlier protest of the same award, further cementing the importance of intervening in protests where possible. Second, the GAO confirmed that an agency may use a contractor's cybersecurity approach as a technical evaluation factor and give extra credit to offerors who exceed the minimum requirements set by regulation or the solicitation. Third, the COFC issued an opinion finding that a potential offeror that did not have a record of relevant past performance lacked standing to protest a sole-source solicitation, which seems inconsistent with an important Federal Acquisition Regulation requirement for evaluating past performance....