Category Archives: Cybersecurity Law

Is #ShameHacking Coming Next? Hackers Breach Search Engine for Japanese Sex Hotels

Life is short – it is shorter when hackers tell your spouse Shame hacking — the use, or threatened use, of purportedly hacked data for embarrassing or extorting people by threatening to expose such compromising data if they do not comply with the demands made of them — is a thing. A search engine for …

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Was the ransomware attack on 20+ Texas local governments an attack on a single service provider? [UPDATE: YES!]

The Texas local governments attack seems to me to be more akin to the trend we have been seeing in 2019 with attackers targeting one MSP and then using that access and the MSP’s tools to attack / encrypt the MSP’s individual clients. If I’m not mistaken (and, I could be), the Texas DIR often …

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Texas AG: Business Must Implement and Maintain Reasonable Cybersecurity Safeguards

Go here to read: Texas Businesses Must Implement and Maintain Reasonable Cybersecurity Safeguards According to State Attorney General

Texas Bar Journal 2018 Year-End Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Update

The Texas Bar Journal’s year-end update on Cybersecurity & Data Privacy law was once again provided by Shawn Tuma and addressed the following issues: Lawyers’ Cybersecurity and Data Breach Obligations that are required under Texas law and the ABA’s Ethics Opinion 483 titled Lawyers’ Obligations Afteran Electronic Data Breach or CyberattackWhether an IT service provider’s …

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Cyber Insurance – A Better Way to Help Small Businesses Manage Cyber Risk

In a recent Wall Street Journal article, The Case for Protecting Small Firms from Cyber Lawsuits, the authors argue that, because smaller companies lack the resources of larger companies when it comes to protecting data, smaller companies should have legal protections to exempt them from facing the consequences of these laws. While it seems this …

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Scientists warn brain implants can be hacked and used to control people (and you thought I was kidding?)

Back in early 2012, I wrote a blog post about whether hacking a human would violate the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Shortly after publishing it, I received a call from a guy in Austin who said: “dude, someone finally gets it, I need your help!” … I responded that I was a lawyer, …

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Come to our session at #PSR18 – Vendor Risk Management: Maintaining Relationships While Limiting Liability

Are you at IAPP – International Association of Privacy Professionals P.S.R.  #PSR18 in Austin? If so, please come to our Thursday 10:30 – 11:30 session on Vendor Risk Management: Maintaining Relationships While Limiting Liability in Lone Star Ballroom A, Level 3. It should be great as I get to be with great panelists Tami Dokken and Melissa Krasnow and we will have Mark Smith as our …

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5 Key Things In-House Counsel Can Do to Help Their Businesses’ Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a team sport and many people within a business must work together to help effectively manage their businesses’ cyber risk. In-house counsel plays a critical role in this process. A recent Law360 article (subscription required) identified the following key things they can do: Develop, implement, and table-top test an incident response plan Advise …

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Why do you need a cyber attorney? Shawn Tuma explains in Ethical Boardroom

In my latest article in Ethical Boardroom article, I explain some of the not-so-obvious reasons why you need an experienced cyber attorney on your team: Why you need a cyber attorney (Spring 2018) Here are other Ethical Boardroom (@EthicalBoard) articles that I have written or contributed to that are also available for free: Cybersecurity: A Fiduciary Duty …

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What does it mean to “hack back” and is it a good idea?

There is more and more talk about companies hacking back against those who attack them in cyber space and whether allowing them to take such measures is a good idea. Right now, hacking back, or active defense, as it is often called, is illegal under the federal unauthorized access law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse …

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