Cybersecurity and data privacy, topics that were already top of mind for companies at the start of 2020, were pushed even further to the forefront due to the COVID-19 pandemic, significant data security enforcement actions, and the SolarWinds breach discovered in December.
The increased prevalence of remote work made it all the more critical for
In a landmark enforcement action related to a bank data breach, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) assessed an $80 million civil monetary penalty and entered into a cease and desist order with the bank subsidiaries of Capital One on August 6, 2020. The actions follow a 2019 cyber-attack against Capital One. The Federal Reserve Board also entered into a cease and desist order with the banks’ parent holding company. The OCC actions represent the first imposition of a significant penalty against a bank in connection with a data breach or an alleged failure to comply with the OCC’s guidelines relating to information security.
Continue Reading OCC Imposes $80 Million Penalty in Connection with Bank Data Breach
On June 25, 2020, a federal district court in the Eastern District of Virginia held that a bank must produce in discovery a report generated by its cybersecurity forensic investigator following a 2019 data breach involving unauthorized access to personal information of customers and individuals who had applied for accounts.[1] Even though the report was produced at the direction of outside counsel, the court rejected arguments that the forensic report is protected from disclosure by the work product doctrine. Instead, the court determined that the report was not produced primarily in anticipation of litigation based on several factors, including the similarity of the report to past business-related work product by the investigator and the bank’s subsequent use and dissemination of the report. This decision raises questions about the scope of work product protection for forensic expert and other similar reports in the context of an internal investigation.
Continue Reading Federal Court Compels Production of Data Breach Forensic Investigation Report
On April 15, 2020, the U.S. Departments of State, the Treasury, and Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued an advisory alert providing guidance on the North Korean cyber threat and steps to mitigate that threat (the “Alert”).[1] The U.S. Government has repeatedly warned the private sector that North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“DPRK”), routinely engages in malicious cyber activities and has specifically targeted financial institutions.
This Alert serves as a reminder, especially during this pandemic as businesses go remote and virtual to an unprecedented degree, that the cyber threat, including from the DPRK, remains a critical risk for all companies. Financial institutions in particular, a traditional target of North Korean cyber activity, should take steps to ensure they are protecting themselves from and responding effectively to malicious cyber intrusions.
Continue Reading CISA Alert: North Korean Cyber Threat Poses Increased Risk for Financial Institutions
As firms respond to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic by increasingly transitioning to remote and telework arrangements, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued an alert on measures that firms and associated persons can take to address resulting cybersecurity vulnerabilities:
On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the California Attorney General released a second set of modifications (the “March Revisions”) to the proposed regulations implementing the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), including substantive changes to both the initial draft regulations issued in October (the “Initial Regulations”) and the revisions published Friday, February 7, 2020
Efforts to contain COVID-19 have resulted in many employees working remotely for potentially an extended period of time. While such precautions are in place, it is important to stay vigilant of cybersecurity risks. There are already reports of COVID-19 related phishing scams and a recent hack of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department amid its pandemic response. Remote working can exacerbate these risks. Below is a checklist of key issues to keep in mind on this subject:
Continue Reading Managing Cyber Risk During COVID-19 Response
On Friday, February 7, 2020, the California Attorney General released an amended set of proposed regulations (supplemented on February 10, 2020) implementing the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), including substantial changes to the draft regulations issued in October. While the revised regulations eliminate certain requirements that businesses found to be onerous and
In 2019, boards and senior management across a range of industries continued to cite cybersecurity as one of the most significant risks facing their companies.
At the same time, comprehensive data privacy regulation became a new reality in the United States as many companies implemented major revisions to their privacy policies and data systems to
The final version of the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 is coming into view.
On October 10, California’s Attorney General released the long-anticipated draft regulations to implement the CCPA, and on October 12, the Governor signed into law five amendments to the CCPA passed during the 2019 legislative session. (We previously discussed the CCPA