The Governor of Massachusetts recently signed House Bill No. 4806 into law, which will amend certain provisions of the state’s data breach notification law. In addition to changing the information that must be included in notifications to regulators and individuals, the amendments will also require entities to provide eighteen months of free credit monitoring services … Continue Reading
Recent years have seen significant amounts of legislative activity related to state data breach notification laws, and 2018 was no exception. Not only did South Dakota and Alabama enact new data breach notification laws in 2018, becoming the last of 50 U.S. states to enact such laws, but other states also enacted changes to existing … Continue Reading
It has been a busy year for privacy and cybersecurity. Here is a look back at the highlights of 2018 and a preview of what 2019 may have in store in the United States, Europe, and China:… Continue Reading
Canada’s new data breach law, The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), took effect on November 1. Official guidance released by the country’s Privacy Commissioner explains a few of the law’s key provisions that will affect organizations, specifically, breach reporting and notification obligations, their triggers, and record retention. Reporting & Notification Obligations Under the … Continue Reading
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) released a final rule approving three new Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) standards which address supply chain risk management for bulk electric systems (“BES”) operations. The new standards were developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) in response to FERC Order No. 829, which directed NERC to create … Continue Reading
Less than three months ago, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). Industry and privacy watch groups alike have scrutinized the law. This summer saw fierce negotiations all in the name of improving the CCPA. Last Friday, on August 31, 2018, the California legislature passed SB 1121 to amend the CCPA. The … Continue Reading
On July 20, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) published comments it received from a wide array of tech and telecom companies, trade groups, civil society, academia, and others regarding its “international Internet policy priorities for 2018 and beyond.” NTIA’s Office of International Affairs (“OIA”) had requested comments and … Continue Reading
On June 28, 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which is aimed at strengthening consumer privacy rights and data security protections. The CCPA takes effect on January 1, 2020 and is considered the most stringent privacy law in the country. The CCPA applies to for-profit entities that conduct business in … Continue Reading
On June 11, 2018, the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (“FS-ISAC”) announced the launch of the CERES Forum, an information sharing initiative for central banks, regulators, and supervisors designed to strengthen responses to cyber and physical threats. The new forum will become operational on July 1, 2018. Although FS-ISAC primarily comprises private financial … Continue Reading
Pursuant to Executive Order 13636, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) established the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, Version 1.0, a technology-neutral, voluntary, risk-based cybersecurity framework that includes standards and processes intended to align policy, business, and technological approaches to addressing cybersecurity risks. Four years later, NIST has released an updated version … Continue Reading
Today, 34 global technology and security companies announced that they have signed a Cybersecurity Tech Accord, which publicly commits them “to protect and empower civilians online and to improve the security, stability and resilience of cyberspace.” The signatories include Cisco, Dell, Facebook, HP, Intuit, and Microsoft. The text of the Accord references recent events that … Continue Reading
[This article was originally published in Law360] Last week, South Dakota became the 49th U.S. state to enact a data breach notification law with the passage of S.B. 62, which sets forth requirements for notifying state residents, the state attorney general, and major consumer reporting agencies in the event of a breach. The law, which … Continue Reading
By Bruce Bennett, Carlo Kostka, Charlotte Hill, Craig Pollack, Dan Cooper, Gemma Nash, Kristof Van Quathem, Mark Young, and Sophie Bertin The EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which took effect on January 13, 2018, puts an obligation on banks to give Third Party Providers (TPPs) access to a customer’s payment account data, provided the customer expressly … Continue Reading
Earlier today, our colleagues David Engvall, Keir Gumbs, Reid Hooper, and Matthew Wood in the Securities and Capital Markets practice group posted the below article on the SEC’s new statement and interpretive guidance on public company cybersecurity disclosures and insider trading on the Cov Financial Services blog. The original article can be read here. On … Continue Reading
On January 9, the House of Representatives passed the Cyber Vulnerability Disclosure Reporting Act by voice vote. The Act directs the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to prepare a report describing the policies and procedures that DHS developed to coordinate the cyber vulnerability disclosures. Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002 … Continue Reading
As we summarized last fall, the EU Commission published a new Cybersecurity Communication in September that, among other things, sets out proposals for an EU cybersecurity certification framework as part of an EU “Cybersecurity Act” (see our post here and a more detailed summary here). Just before the holidays, on December 20, 2017, the UK Government published a consultation on these proposals, which the … Continue Reading
Covington’s global cross-practice Digital Health team has posted an illuminating three-part series on the Covington Digital Health blog that covers key questions entities should be asking as they seek to fit together the regulatory and commercial pieces of the complex digital health puzzle. In the first part of the series, the Digital Health team answers key regulatory questions … Continue Reading
Earlier this year, the FTC’s staff released a series of blog posts entitled Stick with Security that updated and expanded upon the prior Start with Security best-practices guide for information security practices. The Stick with Security series draws from FTC complaints, consent orders, closed investigations, and input from companies around the country to provide deeper … Continue Reading
The White House released on November 15, 2017 the Vulnerabilities Equities Policy and Process for the United States Government (“VEP”) — the process by which the Government determines whether to disseminate or restrict information about new, nonpublic vulnerabilities that it discovers. This release was motivated by criticism following the allegations that significant cyber-attacks have exploited … Continue Reading
Last week, the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus hosted “Hacking: What Color Is Your Hat? Vulnerability Disclosures and the Law,” a discussion on the importance of vulnerability disclosures to protect information systems and the nation’s cyber security defenses, and how private and public actors can safely encourage vulnerability reporting. Technology and security companies … Continue Reading
Steve Surdu is a Senior Cybersecurity Advisor at Covington and a member of the firm’s Cybersecurity Incident Response Team. Prior to joining the firm, Steve served as Vice President of Professional Services at Mandiant, a leading cybersecurity firm. Steve has more than 35 years of experience both as a consultant and as a senior executive … Continue Reading
In the immediate aftermath of discovering a cybersecurity incident, companies often face many questions and few answers amidst a frenzy of activity. What happened? What should we do now? What legal risks does the company face, and how should it protect against them? In this fast-paced environment, it can be difficult to coordinate the activity … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the UK Government published a consultation on plans to implement the EU Directive on security of network and information systems (the “NIS Directive”, otherwise known as the Cybersecurity Directive). The consultation includes a proposal to fine firms that fail to implement “appropriate and proportionate security measures” up to EUR 20 million or … Continue Reading
Delaware Gov. John Carney has signed into law a bill that will impose more stringent obligations for notifying affected Delaware residents in the event of a data breach, in addition to establishing requirements for Delaware businesses to maintain “reasonable” data security practices. In addition to expanding the types of information that would require notification of … Continue Reading
