Cybersecurity

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The emergence of online, non-traditional financial service platforms creates additional avenues for terrorist groups to receive and transfer funds outside of the traditional banking system.  One consequence of this trend is the potential for increased litigation against these providers under U.S. statutes that create civil liability for provision of material support to terrorists: the Anti-Terrorism Act (the “ATA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2333(a), and the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (“JASTA”), 18 U.S.C. § 2333(d)(2).

Civil claims for damages under the ATA and JASTA have historically been brought against large banks for providing financial services to entities with alleged terrorist links.  Typically in such cases, victims of a terrorist attack and/or their family members allege that the bank supported the attack by processing U.S. dollar denominated transactions to an entity with links to terrorism (often through a chain of intermediaries).  In recent years, the range of entities against which ATA and JASTA claims have been brought has increasingly expanded to include companies outside of the banking sector, such as pharmaceutical companies, government contractors, and social media platforms.  As terrorist groups increase their use of non-traditional financial service platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges, decentralized fintech platforms, and other similar businesses may begin to face ATA and JASTA claims. …
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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:

  • Measures for Firms. Firms should take steps to ensure network security.  This may include providing

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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:…
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On February 19, 2020 the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published its second statement on privacy in the context of corporate transactions.

The statement, the full text of which can be read here, highlights the existence of concerns related to the combination and accumulation of sensitive personal data and the possibility that such combinations could result in a high level of risk to the fundamental rights to privacy and  the protection of personal data.…
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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…

On January 27, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) issued examination observations related to cybersecurity and operational resiliency practices (“Examination Observations”). The observations highlight a set of best practices by market participants in the following areas:  (1) governance and risk management, (2) access rights and controls, (3) data loss prevention, (4) mobile security, (5) incident response and resiliency, (6) vendor management and (7) training and awareness.  Cybersecurity has been a key priority for OCIE since 2012.  Since then, it has published eight cybersecurity-related risk alerts, including an April 2019 alert addressing mobile security. OCIE has perennially included cybersecurity practices as part of its examination priorities (“Examination Priorities”) and listed all but mobile security as “particular focus areas” in the “information security” priority for 2020. …
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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 UK Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) issued its first penalty notice under the GDPR in December 2019.  Despite publishing notices of its intention to fine Marriott and British Airways in July 2019, the ICO has not yet taken its final enforcement action in these cases (and it is understood that the ICO has granted an extension for representations by the companies, until March 2020).  The £275,000 fine levied on Doorstep Dispensaree, a pharmaceutical company that provides various prescription medicines to care homes in the UK, therefore provides the first insight into the ICO’s approach to administrative fines under the GDPR (as further described below).…
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The European Commission (the “EC”) has published (see link here) slides from its Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom regarding the future relationship with the UK, in connection with personal data protection. The slides discuss a possible “adequacy” decision for the UK’s data protection regime, to be delivered by the EC by the end of the “transition period” which, under the draft Agreement on the Withdrawal of the UK from the EU (the “Withdrawal Agreement”), is currently envisaged to be December 31, 2020.

The slides were used for internal “preparatory discussions” and were presented on January 10, 2020 to the European Council’s Ad hoc Working Party on Article 50. The slides are not binding and are stated as being for “presentational and information purposes only”.…
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The following post was originally included as part of our recently published memorandum “Selected Issues for Boards of Directors in 2020”.

According to a 2019 survey, Chief Legal Officers ranked data breaches as the most important issue keeping them “up at night.” Cybersecurity also remained top of mind for boards and other corporate…