On May 16, Deputy Undersecretary for Cybersecurity, Mark Weatherford, spoke to the Advanced Cyber Security Center about DHS’s cyber security priorities: Information Sharing, R&D, and the Advanced Persistent Threat.
On Information Sharing: This is a continuing challenge, in part because of the way the federal government shares information. At present, the federal government provides cyber threat information to private sector organizations,… More
Interesting article from Of Counsel regarding both the substance and the business of data privacy and security law. Lawyers from several firms (including me) talk about current and pending legislation, the mechanisms of compliance and breach response, and the pipeline for new lawyers in the field of data security and privacy.
One of the other attorneys discussed the shortage of trained attorneys in this area as follows:
You’d think,… More
An aptly-timed article from Mass High Tech Business News noted earlier today that: “Data Breaches [Are] a Growing Problem in Health Care.” This article focused on a recent breach at Boston Children’s Hospital involving the records of 2,000 patients.
The article was prescient, as this afternoon, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced a $750,000 settlement with suburban Boston’s South Shore Hospital, relating to a 2010 data breach.… More
The Federal Trade Commission has joined the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in filing a memorandum in support of the constitutionality of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
This issue arose in Shamara King v. General Information Services, Inc., a "consumer class action based upon Defendant’s willful violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act,… More
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) has issued a Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information. The guide is targeted at smaller health care providers and their administrative staff members. The 47 pages contain five chapters:
Interesting article in Forbes, "The Zero-Day Salesmen," about "government agencies who purchase such “zero-day” exploits, or hacking techniques that use undisclosed flaws in software, with the explicit intention of invading or disrupting the computers and phones of crime suspects and intelligence targets." More
(This post also appears in www.massachusettsnoncompetelaw.com)
Below is an article that I wrote for the June edition of Massachusetts Lawyers Journal, the monthly publication of the Massachusetts Bar Association. It discusses an important case that interprets the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Moreand the split in the law that case has created with the First Circuit, which includes Massachusetts.The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts has noted that employers are increasingly using the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) “to sue former employees and their new companies who seek a competitive edge through wrongful use of information from the former employer’s computer system.” But in April,…
What do cyberattackers want? According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, it depends. And the most dangerous ones are the ones that really know what they want: the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). They APT isn’t easily defined, but think of APTs as professional thieves, going after high-value targets and using sophisticated techniques. They are Thomas Crown to the every Eddie Coynes of the world. … More