More than 500 United States schools (connected with 54 different education entities such as school districts and colleges) have been infected with ransomware during the first nine months of 2019, according to a recent report by cybersecurity firm Armor, making the education sector one of the leading ransomware targets, following only municipalities as the top … Continue Reading
A recent study surveying small and mid sized businesses (SMBs) found that 67% had experienced a cyber attack in 2018, and yet that same study found that cybersecurity is still “not on the to do list” for SMBs – 60% of the SMBs surveyed responded that they did not have a cybersecurity plan in place, … Continue Reading
Verizon recently published its 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report. This report is the 12th edition and contains an analysis of 41,686 security incidents with 2,013 confirmed breaches from 73 sources, including public and private entities. Included among its many findings, the report found high-level executives are twelve times more likely to be the target of … Continue Reading
During a presentation at the Professional Services Council Federal Acquisition Conference on June 13, 2019, a high-ranking Department of Defense (“DoD”) official announced, with dramatic flair, that cybersecurity is an allowable cost: “I need you all now to get out your pens and you better write this down and tell your teams: Hear it from … Continue Reading
All companies in this day and age must devote some attention to cybersecurity risks. Regardless of industry, almost every entity maintains some form of personally identifiable information that requires protection (e.g., credit card information, Social Security numbers, bank account information, etc.). However, the medical device industry has additional concerns – it must make sure that … Continue Reading
Happy Data Privacy Day from the Jackson Lewis Privacy, Data and Cybersecurity Team! In Honor of National Privacy Day, we are focused on what is sure to be one of the hottest issues of 2019 and present our FAQs for employers on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). As you know, data privacy and security … Continue Reading
Earlier today, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down a significant decision concerning the ability of individuals to bring suit under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). In short, individuals need not allege actual injury or adverse effect, beyond a violation of his/her rights under BIPA, in order to qualify as an “aggrieved” person and be entitled to … Continue Reading
Privacy and cybersecurity risks continue to emerge for organizations large and small. While by no means exhaustive, we briefly discuss some key issues that organizations may need to focus on in 2019 and beyond. Business Email Compromise (BEC)/Email Account Compromise (EAC) – BEC and EAC attacks are widespread and show no sign of slowing in the … Continue Reading
Through its actions and publications, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has shown an increased focus on cybersecurity and the public disclosure of cybersecurity risks and incidents. In early 2018, the SEC issued a statement and an interpretative guide to assist companies with understanding and carrying out the agency’s disclosure obligations concerning cybersecurity risks and … Continue Reading
On September 23, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB-1121 amending certain provisions of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) which was enacted in June of this year. As we reported previously, CCPA will apply to any entity that does business in the State of California and satisfies one or more of … Continue Reading
Last month, South Dakota and Alabama became the final two states to enact a data breach notification law. In addition, many other states, in response to trends, heightened public awareness, and a string of large-scale data breaches, have continued amending their existing laws. Arizona is the latest state to update its data breach notification law to … Continue Reading
The New Jersey State Bar Association recently met to discuss, among other things, our favorite topic: Cybersecurity. (Perhaps our esteemed Privacy, e-Communication and Data Security Practice Group chair was there….) We wanted to briefly mention two critical points discussed: Critical Point #1: The biggest risk out there is employees. We employees click on all … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it will launch a national education campaign to aid the small business sector in strengthening its cybersecurity and protecting its sensitive and personal data. The national education campaign builds on the FTC’s 2017 Small Business Initiative which included the creation of a new website: FTC.gov/SmallBusiness aimed at … Continue Reading
Co-Author: Thomas Buchan As reported in our blog post from November 6, 2017, the New York State Attorney General announced the release of the proposed Shield Act in early November, 2017. This new legislation (we have some links for you below) would make significant changes to New York’s cybersecurity provisions (primarily under General Business Law … Continue Reading
On April 17th, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”), a component of the U.S. Commerce Department, released Version 1.1 of the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (“Cybersecurity Framework Version 1.1”), which incorporates feedback from NIST-led workshops, public comments, and questions received by NIST team members over the last two years. The Cybersecurity … Continue Reading
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
