UPDATE: The changes to the Massachusetts data breach notification law described below are now in effect. Thus, if you have discovered a data incident involving the personal information of Massachusetts residents you will want to review these changes carefully – they are significant and the Commonwealth is intent on educating the public about them. Because we have coached … 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
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
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
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
On April 6, 2017, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez signed HB 15, making New Mexico the 48th state to enact a data breach notification law. The law has an effective date of June 16, 2017 and follows the same general structure of many of the breach notification laws in other states. Importantly, the definition of personal … Continue Reading
In the face of seemingly daily news reports of company data breaches and the mounting legislative concern and efforts on both the state and federal level to enact laws safeguarding personal information maintained by companies, employers should be questioning whether they should implement privacy policies to address the protection of personal information they maintain on … Continue Reading
In honor of Data Privacy Day, we provide the following “Top 10 for 2016.” While the list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide some hot topics for organizations to consider in 2016. EU/U.S. Data Transfer (status of Safe Harbor). On October 6, 2015, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled … Continue Reading
Recognizing cyber security as one of the most important issues facing financial markets today, and identifying cyber-attacks as a top threat, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) unanimously approved proposed enhanced rules on cybersecurity for derivatives clearing house organizations, trading platforms, and swap data repositories. The proposals, published in separate Federal Register Notices as Part … Continue Reading
Demonstrating its continued commitment to data security enforcement, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced Cox Communications Inc., the nation’s third largest cable operator, agreed to pay $595,000 to resolve an investigation into whether the company failed to properly protect its customers’ personal information. The agreement ends the first data security enforcement action brought by the FCC against … Continue Reading
UPDATE: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reached a settlement with two telecom companies in connection with allegations the telecom companies violated the law regarding the privacy of phone customers’ personal information. As we previously reported and discussed, in October 2014 the FCC initiated its first data security case against TerraCom, Inc. and YourTel America, … Continue Reading
Reacting to a report that identity theft was a top concern for Illinois residents (second in a list of ten), Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a legislative proposal to strengthen the state’s existing data breach notification law. The call for stronger breach notification laws is a trend that has emerged in other states, such as … Continue Reading
In honor of National Data Privacy Day, we provide the following “Top 15 for 2015.” While the list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide some hot topics for businesses to consider in 2015. Inside Threats for Healthcare Providers and Business Associates. While news reports of security risks often focus on hackings and breaches … Continue Reading
The New Jersey Assembly on December 15 unanimously approved, by a vote of 75-0, a bill designed to better protect consumers from identify theft. Bill A3146, if approved by the Senate, would expand the state’s law to include disclosure of a breach of security of online accounts. Per the Identity Theft Resource Center, between 2005 … Continue Reading
As we’ve discussed previously, medical identity information is worth more than ten (10) times that of financial information on the black market. This gives hackers a financial incentive to obtain such information that is maintained not only by medical providers and pharmacies but also by employers who provide medical insurance coverage to their employees. Employers … Continue Reading
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) issued a Staff Advisory on best practices for financial institutions that must comply with Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) provisions on data security and customer privacy. GLBA was enacted to ensure that financial institutions respect the privacy of their customers and protect the security and confidentiality of nonpublic personal information. Specifically, … Continue Reading
In honor of National Data Privacy Day, we provide the following “Top 14 for 2014.” While the list is by no means exhaustive, it does provide critical areas businesses will need to consider in 2014. Location Based Tracking. As the utilization of GPS enable devices becomes more and more prevalent, employers are often faced with … Continue Reading
Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requested an "emergency review" of its recently proposed rule that "[Federally-facilitated Exchanges or FFEs], non-Exchange entities associated with FFEs, and State Exchanges must report all privacy and security incidents and breaches to HHS within one hour of discovering the incident or breach." We reported on the proposed … Continue Reading
Click on the link in this post for high-level compliance roadmap concerning the Omnibus Privacy Rule under HIPAA and HITECH for covered plans, providers and business associates.… Continue Reading
It seems more companies are considering whether to purchase or enhance their cyber or data breach insurance coverage. In recent years, these offerings have expanded giving businesses more choice, and perhaps so has the need for such coverage given the explosion of access to and transmission of confidential data. What is interesting about this development is the different … Continue Reading
Today's Pew Research Center report that 72% of online adults use social networking sites, a significant increase since 2005, should spur more employers to address social media in the workplace.… Continue Reading
Breach involving software upgrade to online application system leads to allegations of HIPAA privacy and security failures, and a $1.7 million settlement payment to HHS.… Continue Reading
Are you a "non-Exchange entity" with respect to the healthcare exchanges coming later this year? If so you may become subject to a one-hour breach notification mandate.… Continue Reading
