King & Spalding Client Alert On Unprecedented Hacking And Trading Scheme — On August 11, 2015, prosecutors in the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of New York unsealed indictments against several individuals involved in an “unprecedented hacking and trading scheme.”  The indictments, and a parallel SEC civil complaint, allege that several hackers gained access to the networks of news organizations and unlawfully used that access to obtain non-public, advance copies of press releases containing market-moving financial information, which they then sold to traders who made trades based on that information. King & Spalding’s Data, Privacy & Security group, in conjunction with its Securities Enforcement group, recently issued a Client Alert highlighting the lessons that can be learned from these data breaches and the resulting arrests.  To read the full Client Alert, please see below.

Pipelines And Terrorism — John A. Drennan and Alexander K. Haas of King & Spalding LLP discuss in a recent article the terrorism threat to the nation’s pipelines, including from cyberthreats, and propose a novel means by which to proactively mitigate legal liability in this area.  In particular, a little-known section of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 provides incentives for developing and deploying antiterrorism technologies and services by providing liability protections for claims arising out of, relating to, or resulting from an act of terrorism.  The authors discuss the law and its application to pipeline security.  Please click here to read the full article in the Chemical Regulation Reporter published by Bloomberg BNA.

Managing Privacy Policies In M&A — Communications Daily recently published an article quoting King & Spalding’s Daniel Ray on the issues companies should consider when drafting or updating their privacy policies if an acquisition is on the horizon.  The article, titled “Privacy Policies Should Say What Happens in M&A, Experts Say,” appears in the August 17 issue.