Cyberside Chats: Everyone wants to be Batman. Hacking Back & Cybersecurity Law
Looking back at 2021 and ahead to 2022
Monthly Minute | Protecting Against Data Scrapers
Death of Activist Aaron Swartz Could Spur Changes to Computer Fraud & Abuse Act
Employer’s Takeover of Former CEO’s LinkedIn Account Lawful Under CFAA
2022 provided companies with further clarity and insight regarding legal claims that might be viable to stop data (or web) scraping and those that likely won’t work. Data scraping continues to become an increasingly popular...more
World events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, have accelerated the need for business operations to grow more digitally reliant and driven. As the global network grows and becomes more interconnected, privacy and...more
Russian intelligence agencies have hacked dozens of civilian organizations in the U.S. and other Ukraine-allied nations since February. While this activity has garnered a great deal of attention due to the conflict in...more
On May 19, 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced significant clarifications to its policy on charging Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) violations that give some comfort to cyber security consultants who...more
On May 19, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued revisions to its existing policy for charging offenses under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) (2022 CFAA Policy). The revisions state that “good-faith” security...more
In an effort to “promote privacy and cybersecurity by upholding the legal right of individuals, network owners, operators, and other persons to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information stored in...more
On May 19, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had revised its policy regarding prosecution under the federal anti-hacking statute, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Since the DOJ last made changes...more
Professor, Attorney and Expert in Cybersecurity Policy & Governance, Kevin Powers joins Jerich Beason & Whitney McCollum to discuss where the law stands on “Hacking Back”. Everyone at some point wants to be Batman. During...more
The past year’s trends in privacy and cybersecurity are set to intensify in 2022, with heightened threats, increased regulations, and elevated expectations - as well as new opportunities. To navigate the year ahead, we lay...more
Cybercrime has been on the rise in recent years. In response, the federal government has shown an increased interest in prosecuting cybercrime offenses. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, codified at 18 U.S.C. Section 1030, is...more
In today’s digital age, employers store immense amounts of information, including confidential and proprietary information, on their on-premises systems, cloud-servers and other data storage solutions. With this collection of...more
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), codified at 18 U.S.C. Section 1030, is one of the U.S. Department of Justice’s most potent weapons in its fight against cybercrimes. It outlines numerous offenses, and it imposes...more
On August 5, 2021, a proposed class action settlement was reached in the closely-watched privacy action against fintech services company Plaid Inc. (“Plaid”). The settlement features a $58 million settlement fund and certain...more
SCOTUS: Accessing Private Database for Improper Purpose Not Violation of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In a recent Supreme Court case, Van Buren v. United States, the Court narrowed the applicability of the Computer Fraud...more
In this month’s edition of our Privacy & Cybersecurity Update, we examine the European Commission’s new Standard Contractual Clauses and the European Data Protection Board’s new recommendations on international data flows. We...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
Because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act has become less protective of employers’ rights to be free from theft or sabotage by employees and others with access to those...more
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued its first major decision on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) in Van Buren v. United States. The decision has significant implications for how organizations protect...more
CYBERSECURITY - Another Win for Justice Department: Slilpp Marketplace Takedown - People always ask me if law enforcement is having any luck in combatting cyber criminals. Let me be clear: it is a very tough job to take...more
On June 14, the United States Supreme Court issued a summary disposition in hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp. granting certiorari, vacating the Ninth Circuit’s previous judgment, and remanding the case for additional...more
A recent ruling in Parziale v. HP, Inc., arising out of the implementation by Hewlett-Packard (“HP”) of a remote firmware update on many models of the company’s printers, highlights the potentially broad application of the...more
With the rise of the digital world, many estate planning clients have accumulated large collections of “digital assets” that are stored online. In its simplest form, a “digital asset” is a non-physical asset that exists...more
Last week, a putative privacy-related class action was filed in California district court against financial analytics firm Envestnet, Inc. (“Envestnet”), which operates Yodlee, Inc. (“Yodlee”). (Wesch v. Yodlee Inc., No....more
In continuing its push to enforce its terms and policies against developers that engage in unauthorized collection or scraping of user data, Facebook brought suit last month against mobile marketing and data analytics firm...more
Ransomware attackers typically encrypt victims’ data and demand ransom in exchange for the decryption keys. Ransomware is not a new cybercriminal activity. In fact, ransomware attacks are over 30 years old. However, around...more