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Caleb Skeath

Caleb Skeath helps companies manage their most complex and high‑stakes cybersecurity and data security challenges, combining deep regulatory insight, technical fluency, and practical judgment informed by leading incident response matters.

Caleb Skeath advises in‑house legal and security teams on the full lifecycle of cybersecurity and privacy risk—from governance and preparedness through incident response, regulatory engagement, and follow‑on litigation. A Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), he is trusted by clients across highly regulated and technology‑driven sectors to provide clear, practical guidance at moments when legal judgment, technical understanding, and business realities must be aligned.

Caleb has deep experience leading and overseeing responses to complex cybersecurity incidents, including ransomware, data theft and extortion, business email compromise, advanced persistent threats and state-sponsored threat actors, insider threats, and inadvertent data loss. He regularly helps in‑house counsel structure and manage investigations under attorney‑client privilege; coordinate with internal IT, information security, and executive stakeholders; and engage with forensic firms, crisis communications providers, insurers, and law enforcement. A central focus of his practice is advising on notification obligations and strategy, including the application of U.S. federal and state data breach notification laws and requirements along with contractual notification obligations, and helping companies make defensible, risk‑informed decisions about timing, scope, and messaging.

In addition to his work responding to cybersecurity incidents, Caleb works closely with clients’ legal, technical, and compliance teams on cybersecurity governance, regulatory compliance, and pre‑incident planning. He has extensive experience drafting and reviewing cybersecurity policies, incident response plans, and vendor contract provisions; supervising cybersecurity assessments under privilege; and advising on training and tabletop exercises designed to prepare organizations for real‑world incidents. His work frequently involves translating evolving regulatory expectations into actionable guidance for in‑house counsel, including in highly-regulated sectors such as the financial sector (including compliance with NYDFS cybersecurity regulations, the Computer Security Incident Notification Rule, and GLBA guidelines and guidance) and the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector (including compliance with GxP standards, FDA medical device guidance, and HIPAA).

Caleb’s practice also addresses evolving and emerging areas of cybersecurity and data security law, including advising clients on compliance with the Department of Justice’s Data Security Program, CISA‑related security requirements for restricted transactions, and preparation for new regulatory regimes such as the CCPA cybersecurity audit requirements and federal incident reporting obligations. He regularly counsels clients on how artificial intelligence and connected devices intersect with cybersecurity, privacy, and consumer protection risk, and how to support innovation while managing regulatory exposure.

Caleb also has extensive experience helping clients navigate high-stakes cybersecurity-related inquiries from the Federal Trade Commission, state Attorneys General, and other sector-specific regulators, including incident-specific inquiries as well as broader inquiries related to an entity’s cybersecurity practices and the security of product or service offerings. For companies that have entered into cybersecurity-related settlement agreements with regulators, Caleb has helped guide them through compliance with settlement agreement obligations, including navigating required third-party assessments and strategically responding to cybersecurity incidents that can arise while a company is subject to a settlement agreement. Caleb also routinely works hand-in-hand with colleagues in Covington’s class action litigation, commercial litigation, and insurance recovery practices to prepare for and successfully navigate incident-related disputes that can devolve into litigation.

On October 16, 2024, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) published guidance on Product Security Bad Practices (the “Guidance”) that identifies “exceptionally risky” product security practices for software manufacturers.  The Guidance states that the ten identified practices—categorized as (1) Product Properties, (2) Security Features, or (3) Organizational Processes and Policies—are “dangerous and significantly elevate[] risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety.”

The Guidance offers recommendations to remediate each of the identified practices and states that adoption of the recommendations indicates software manufacturers “are taking ownership of customer security outcomes.”  Provided below are the ten practices and associated recommendations.

Continue Reading CISA and FBI Publish Product Security Bad Practices

On October 16, 2024, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) issued an industry letter (the “Guidance”) highlighting the cybersecurity risks arising from the use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and providing strategies to address these risks.  While the Guidance “does not impose any new requirements,” it clarifies how Covered Entities should address AI-related risks as part of NYDFS’s landmark cybersecurity regulation, codified at 23 NYCRR Part 500 (“Cybersecurity Regulation”).  The Cybersecurity Regulation, as revised in November 2023, requires Covered Entities to implement certain detailed cybersecurity controls, including governance and board oversight requirements.  Covered Entities subject to the Cybersecurity Regulation should pay close attention to the new Guidance not only if they are using or planning on using AI, but also if they could be subject to any of the AI-related risks or attacks described below. 

Continue Reading NYDFS Issues Industry Guidance on Risks Arising from Artificial Intelligence

On September 17, 2024, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) published a Secure by Design Alert, cautioning senior executives and business leaders to be aware of and work to eliminate cross-site scripting (“XSS”) vulnerabilities in their products (the “Alert”).  XSS vulnerabilities allow “threat actors to inject malicious scripts into web applications, exploiting them to manipulate, steal, or misuse data across different contexts.” 

Continue Reading CISA and FBI Publish a Secure by Design Alert to Eliminate Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerabilities

On March 27, 2024, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (“CISA”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Proposed Rule”) related to the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“CIRCIA”) was released on the Federal Register website.  The Proposed Rule, which will be formally published in the Federal Register on April 4, 2024, proposes draft regulations to implement the incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities from CIRCIA, which President Biden signed into law in March 2022.  CIRCIA established two cyber incident reporting requirements for covered critical infrastructure entities: a 24-hour requirement to report ransomware payments and a 72-hour requirement to report covered cyber incidents to CISA.  While the overarching requirements and structure of the reporting process were established under the law, CIRCIA also directed CISA to issue the Proposed Rule within 24 months of the law’s enactment to provide further detail on the scope and implementation of these requirements.  Under CIRCIA, the final rule must be published by September 2025.

The Proposed Rule addresses various elements of CIRCIA, which will be covered in a forthcoming Client Alert.  This blog post focuses primarily on the proposed definitions of two pivotal terms that were left to further rulemaking under CIRCIA (Covered Entity and Covered Cyber Incident), which illustrate the broad scope of CIRCIA’s reporting requirements, as well as certain proposed exceptions to the reporting requirements.  The Proposed Rule will be subject to a review and comment period for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. 

Continue Reading CISA Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Incident Reporting

On February 26, 2024, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) published version 2.0 of its Cybersecurity Framework.  Originally released in 2014 and updated in 2018 and now 2024, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (“CSF” or “Framework”) “offers a taxonomy of high-level cybersecurity outcomes that can be used by any organization — regardless of its size, sector, or maturity — to better understand, assess, prioritize, and communicate its cybersecurity efforts.”  Globally, organizations, industries, and government agencies have increasingly relied upon the Framework to establish cybersecurity programs and measure their maturity.  NIST had proposed some potentially significant updates to the Framework in a Concept Paper published on January 19, 2023, which this Version 2.0 follows. 

Continue Reading NIST Publishes the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0

Earlier this month, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) announced that it had finalized the Second Amendment to its “first-in-the-nation” cybersecurity regulation, 23 NYCRR Part 500.  This Amendment implements many of the changes that NYDFS originally proposed in prior versions of the Second Amendment released for public

Continue Reading New York Department of Financial Services Finalizes Second Amendment to Cybersecurity Regulation

On August 21, 2023, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”), National Security Agency (“NSA”), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) issued a joint quantum-readiness factsheet (the “Factsheet”) to inform organizations—particularly those that support critical infrastructure sectors—about quantum computing threats and to urge these organizations to begin

Continue Reading CISA, NSA, and NIST Urge Critical Infrastructure and Others to Prepare for Quantum Computing Cyber Threats

On August 4, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) final rule on Cybersecurity Risk Management, Strategy, Governance, and Incident Disclosure was published in the Federal Register, confirming the dates on which these new requirements will enter into force.  Covington has previously published a detailed summary of this rule, which imposes significant new disclosure requirements for publicly traded companies and, in certain instances, foreign private issuers.  As discussed in greater detail in that alert, the new rule requires U.S. public companies to report material cybersecurity incidents on Form 8-K within four business days of their determination that a material cybersecurity incident has occurred.  Foreign private issuers will be required to furnish information on Form 6-K about material cybersecurity incidents that they disclose or otherwise publicize to any stock exchange or to security holders in a foreign jurisdiction. 

Continue Reading Compliance Dates for SEC’s New Cyber Disclosure Rules Confirmed

Following up on the recent release by the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) of an updated Proposed Second Amendment to its “first-in-the-nation” Cybersecurity Regulation, 23 NYCRR Part 500 (Proposed Second Amendment released June 28, 2023), it is not too late for companies to submit comments on the most

Continue Reading Proposed Second Amendment to NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulations: Comments Due August 14

According to a recently-released meeting agenda, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) upcoming July 26, 2023 meeting will include consideration of adopting rules to enhance disclosures regarding cybersecurity risk management, governance, and incidents by publicly traded companies. 

The SEC initially proposed these rules in March 2022.  If adopted as

Continue Reading SEC to Consider Cyber Rules Next Week