Robert Gavin reports: A federal judge sentenced Michael P. Fish to 9 ¼ years in prison Friday, saying he depravedly hacked into the accounts of dozens of unsuspecting female students at SUNY Plattsburgh, stole their private photos and sold the images on the internet. With his family watching on a courtroom bench, the 26-year-old Fish sat in…
Category: Legislation
Department of Justice Announces New Policy for Charging Cases under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The Department of Justice today announced the revision of its policy regarding charging violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The policy for the first time directs that good-faith security research should not be charged. Good faith security research means accessing a computer solely for purposes of good-faith testing, investigation, and/or correction of a security…
Political Agreement Reached on New EU Horizontal Cybersecurity Directive
Mark Young and Tomos Griffiths of Covington and Burling write: In the early hours of Friday, 13 May, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached provisional political agreement on a new framework EU cybersecurity law, known as “NIS2”. This new law, which will replace the existing NIS Directive (which was agreed around the same…
Mint gets data breach claims dismissed
Alyssa M. Sones of SheppardMullin writes about a data breach lawsuit with a somewhat different, albeit unsuccessful, approach. Sones explains: Fraser’s allegation that Mint had a role in helping the hacker gain control of his phone number sets this case apart from the typical data breach case….. Fraser alleges that Mint allowed Fraser’s number to…
UK Announces Data Reform Bill
Hunton Andrews Kurth writes: On May 10, 2022, as part of the Queen’s Speech, the UK government announced its intention to introduce a Data Reform Bill (the “Bill”). The UK government’s background and briefing notes to the Queen’s Speech state that the purpose of the Bill is to “take advantage of the benefits of Brexit to create a…
Two States Enact Insurance Data Security Laws
Hunton Andrews Kurth writes: In April 2022, two states enacted insurance data security legislation based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) Insurance Data Security Model Law (MDL-668). Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed HB 474 into law on April 8, 2022, and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed SB 207 into law on April 21, 2022. The new laws establish…