Category: Global/Transborder Privacy

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) teamed up with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to issue a joint warning of cyber-attacks emanating from Iran and targeting U.S. federal agencies and businesses.  These hackers target vulnerabilities in virtual private networks (VPNs), which organizations use to allow remote network access.  Once the hackers gain access through a VPN, they export data, sell access to the network, and have the ability to install ransomware.  This is just the latest example of criminals exploiting vulnerabilities associated with the current remote working environment.

A federal appeals court is giving Google and the Justice Department more time to work out their differences in a standoff over whether the tech giant must hand over customer emails stored outside of the United States.

We’ve written several times about the landmark dispute between the U.S. government and Microsoft Corp. over access to a customer’s emails stored in Ireland. Now, a month after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on the government’s appeal, the Justice Department has asked the Court to remand the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit with instructions to dismiss it as moot.

A federal judge in California has agreed to hold Google in contempt for not following his order to turn over data stored overseas.  The order is largely symbolic, however, since a contempt order is required for Google to appeal the ruling.

The ongoing dispute between the government and Google concerning the company’s refusal to hand over customer data stored on foreign servers has taken an odd twist.  Now, the Justice Department is demanding that Google be sanctioned for not abiding by the court’s most recent decision—ordering it to produce data associated with 22 email accounts—and calling Google’s conduct “a willful and contemptuous disregard of various court orders.”  The case is In the Matter of the Search of Content that Is Stored at Premises Controlled by Google, No. 16-mc-80263 (N.D. Cal.).

Lawyers for the tech community are gearing up for argument next month in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeking to overturn another magistrate’s order that requires digital information stored outside of the U.S. to be turned over in response to a U.S. search warrant.

On January 23, 2017, President Donald Trump named Ajit Pai as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).  In his previous role as the senior Republican on the FCC under President Barack Obama, Mr. Pai was an outspoken critic of the agency’s decision to assert jurisdiction over Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) and its rules governing broadband privacy.  Pai’s appointment suggests that significant changes may be on the horizon.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly looking into whether two data breaches at Yahoo!, Inc. should have been disclosed earlier.  In a front page article today, the Wall Street Journal reported that “people familiar with the matter” say the SEC is investigating whether Yahoo!’s disclosures complied with the securities laws.

Last week marked the first time a U.S. law firm was publicly named in a class action data security lawsuit.  Originally filed in April 2016, the class action complaint in Shore v. Johnson & Bell, Ltd., 16-cv-4363 (N.D. Ill.), was unsealed last week after months of back-and-forth over whether the alleged security flaws had been patched.  The complaint accuses Johnson & Bell, a mid-sized Chicago firm, of “systematically exposing confidential client information and storing client data without adequate security.”  The lawsuit makes no claim that any client information has been stolen or misused.  Even so, the filing of this complaint amplifies the risks already facing law firms – including reputational – at a time when data security is a top concern for law firms and their clients.

Bank regulators are continuing to demand more accountability from corporate leaders when it comes to compliance with cybersecurity safeguards.

In the midst of its acquisition by Verizon Communications Inc., Yahoo Inc. disclosed what looks like one of the largest reported thefts of user information in U.S. history.

Has North Korea struck again?  Do its recent attacks signal a shift from those motivated by political retribution to those motivated by financial gain?  What does this mean for financial institutions?

We have previously written about the ongoing debate regarding the proposed EU-U.S. Privacy Shield.  The European Parliament has now added its voice to those who say that the current proposal is inadequate.

For months, the technology and business communities have been waiting anxiously for a Federal appeals court ruling on whether American companies can be forced to turn over customer information to U.S. law enforcement when that information is stored on servers abroad.  It’s the result of a legal appeal filed last year by Microsoft Corporation that was argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit more than seven months ago.

On April 14, 2016, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York filed a civil forfeiture action seeking to recover nearly $100 million stolen from an unidentified U.S. company through a form of wire fraud or Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) fraud.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has in its hands one of the most closely-watched privacy cases in recent memory. U.S. v. Microsoft addresses an issue of critical importance to U.S. businesses — whether companies must comply with orders from the U.S. government to turn over electronic data, even when that data is stored on a server outside of the U.S. A ruling is expected any day. 

American and European officials failed to meet the January 31st deadline for a new agreement on the transfer of data between the United States and Europe, disappointing hopes that the two sides would broker a deal to replace the now-invalidated U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework.

Following yesterday’s news that Experian Plc, the world’s largest consumer credit monitoring firm, suffered a massive data breach, exposing the personal information of some 15 million people, the post-breach fall out has already started.  The Connecticut Attorney General’s office has announced that is launching an investigation into the breach.  

In a 90-minute hearing earlier today, Microsoft Corp. asked the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a district court decision forcing the technology giant to turn over customer email traffic residing on a server in Ireland. American companies with data centers located outside the U.S., as well as privacy advocates and media organizations are closely watching this case.  During the argument, the Court acknowledged that the “implications of its ruling would be broad.”

We are pleased to announce the launch of Data Security Law Blog, Patterson Belknap’s newest resource for the latest news, analysis and thought leadership in the critical area of privacy and cybersecurity law.