Nary a week goes by without news of a data breach by a healthcare provider…while there are certainly a good number of breaches resulting from a breach of cybersecurity defenses or from the wrongful exploitation of system security weaknesses, there is still a risk to healthcare providers resulting from the internal operations of the healthcare … Continue Reading
Last week, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) issued a press release to remind covered entities of an upcoming deadline under the DFS cybersecurity regulations. The next deadline under the regulations is February 15, 2018 – by that date, any covered entities (hopefully, you know who you are) must submit a statement … Continue Reading
A recent report indicates that nearly 500,000 individual health records were breached in September 2017. This figure is taken from the 39 healthcare data breaches involving more than 500 records that were reported to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights in September 2017. Healthcare providers suffered the most breaches with … Continue Reading
The United State Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Nosal v. United States, 16-1344, declining to weigh in on the scope of unauthorized access under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The Ninth Circuit held in Nosal that David Nosal violated the CFAA by using his past assistant’s password to access his former employer’s … Continue Reading
On November 2nd, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced his proposal of the SHIELD Act – Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act – a bill that would heighten data security requirements for companies and better protect New York residents from data breaches of their personal information. “It’s clear that New York’s … Continue Reading
A coalition of the Information Technology Industry Council, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center, Intel, and Samsung, recently released a report that puts out a call for the creation and implementation of a national strategy to invest, innovate and accelerate development and deployment of the Internet of Things (“IoT”). … Continue Reading
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) have been busy on the cybersecurity front. In a press release on September 18, 2017, building upon the state’s pride in its “first-in-the-nation” cybersecurity regulations that were passed earlier this year, (which we previously discussed on our blog and … Continue Reading
After hearing a lot lately about big companies suffering data breaches, it is important to remember that, according to inc.com, half of all cyberattacks target small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). Based on a 2016 State of SMB Cybersecurity Report, CNBC reported that in the prior 12 months half of all SMBs in the U.S. had been hacked. … Continue Reading
The deadline to comply with the first set of requirements under the new DFS Cybersecurity Regulations (“the Regulations”) is here! By today, August 28, 2017, businesses subject to the Regulations must ensure that they: Designate a Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) Establish a Cybersecurity Program Develop a Written Cybersecurity Policy. We have prepared an article … Continue Reading
Delaware joins the growing number of states that recently amended their data breach notification law. On August 17th, Delaware amended its data breach notification law with House Bill 180, the first significant change since 2005, effective 240 days after enactment (on or about April 14, 2018). Delaware maintains the state law trend of requiring businesses … Continue Reading
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled cybersecurity systems is increasing dramatically. By 2018, sixty-two percent of all companies are projected to use AI technologies. The use of AI cybersecurity systems provides greater efficiency through automation, the ability to evaluate larger data sets and, in many cases, a faster way to identify the “cyberattack needle … Continue Reading
Protecting data in the healthcare industry continues to be an area of focus for regulators and lawmakers. HIPAA Journal noted that in 2016 more HIPAA covered entities reported breaches than in any other year since the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office of Civil Rights started publishing breach summaries on its “Wall … Continue Reading
As you likely know by now, international cybercriminals launched a worldwide ransomware attack last Friday with the European law enforcement agency Europol reporting over 100,000 affected organizations in 150 countries, including the U.S. Reports indicate that health care providers, universities, and other large companies were all targeted. The Department of Health and Human Services also … Continue Reading
Several years ago, we published a short primer for law firms intending to provide a brief discussion of key cybersecurity issues, including some helpful steps for safeguarding the client personal and confidential information they maintain. Since then, attacks against firms have increased, ethical rules are tightening, and clients are growing concerned. In at least one … Continue Reading
On May 11, 2017 – after weeks of anticipation – the White House released an Executive Order on Strengthening the Cybersecurity of Federal Networks and Critical Infrastructure. There could not be better timing with a global cyberattack unleashing ransomware against governments and companies in nearly 100 countries around the globe. This newly released Executive Order … Continue Reading
The BTI Law Firms Best at Cybersecurity 2017, a report issued by the BTI Consulting Group (pdf), lists Jackson Lewis as one of the country’s top law firms for cybersecurity and data privacy. The report was compiled “based solely on in-depth telephone interviews with leading legal decision makers,” representing more than 15 different industry segments … Continue Reading
As you know if you regularly read this blog, the New York State DFS finally finalized its “first-in-the-nation” cybersecurity rules with an effective date of March 1, 2017. And their reach is quite large: DFS-supervised entities from insurers and banks to mortgage brokers and credit unions (and their third-party service providers) will have to begin … Continue Reading
Co-author: Devin Rauchwerger The Active Cyber Defense Certainty Act is a new bill that is gaining positive bipartisan support and significant interest from business communities, lawmakers and academics. The proposed bill amends the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act which does not provide adequate deterrence for criminal hacking. The new bill is aimed at helping businesses … Continue Reading
We wanted to keep you informed on the progress of the DFS cybersecurity regulations, as they complete their journey through the approval process. DFS has been working on the regulations since its 2013-2014 studies on cybersecurity risks to financial institutions. As reported in our article, Getting Prepared for the New York Department of Financial Services’ … Continue Reading
As we’ve noted previously, President-elect Trump’s campaign was light on details about his plans to address cybersecurity. However, his announcement yesterday that Thomas P. Bossert will serve as his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, a position equal in status to national security advisor according to the transition team, may offer greater insight into the President-elect’s intentions … Continue Reading
It has been reported that infamous bank robber, Slick Willie Sutton, once said, “I rob banks because that’s where the money is.” Data thieves, understandably, have a similar strategy – go where the data is. The retail industry knows this as it has been a popular target for payment card data. The healthcare and certain … Continue Reading
Following a brutal campaign – one laced with Wikileaks’ email dumps, confidential Clinton emails left unprotected, flurries of Twitter and other social media activity – it will be interesting to see how a Trump Administration will address the serious issues of privacy, cybersecurity and electronic communications, including in social media. Mr. Trump had not been … Continue Reading
On October 4, 2016, a final rule was published in the Federal Register which implements statutory requirements for Department of Defense (DoD) contractors and subcontractors to report cyber incidents that result in an actual or potentially adverse effect on a covered contractor information system or covered defense information residing therein, or on a contractor’s ability to … Continue Reading
The federal Departments of Homeland Security, Defense and Justice and The Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued guidance on the implementation of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA). Among the four guidance documents issued by these agencies is one outlining the ways non-federal entities (which would include private employers) can share … Continue Reading
