Jennifer Baker reports: A law approved by the European Parliament on Wednesday and aimed at protecting citizens’ privacy comes with sweeping penalties for breaches—up to €100 million (US$139 million) or 5 percent of global annual turnover, whichever is larger. The European Data Protection Regulation will apply not only to European companies, but any company that…
Category: Legislation
Courts Reining In What it Means to be a “Hacker” Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
Ralph C. Losey of Jackson Lewis writes: The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) is an anti-hacker statute that prohibits unauthorized access, or the exceeding of authorized access, of computers connected to interstate commerce. 18 U.S.C. § 1030. Violators are subject to both criminal and civil liability. Employers have long taken advantage of the CFAA’s civil remedies to “sue former employees…
Weds: House Financial Services subcommittee to hold hearing on data breaches
Julian Hattem reports: Data security will be back in the spotlight on Wednesday, when a House Financial Services subcommittee hears from top law enforcement, consumer advocacy and industry experts. The hearing will be the fifth Congress has held since Target revealed late last year that a hacker had stolen millions of users’ information during the…
Wyndham submits new data security and breach bills to support motion to dismiss FTC complaint
Will Judge Ester Salas ever get to rule in FTC v. Wyndham? I had hoped the court would issue a ruling on Wyndham’s motion to dismiss shortly after the November oral argument on the motion, but here we are three months later, and both sides are still introducing supplemental authorities to bolster their respective positions….
Hearings Begin On Target Data Breach: Target CFO to testify tomorrow
Esme Murphy reports: Congress began a series of hearings Monday before a Senate banking subcommittee into the massive data breach at Target and other retailers. Lawmakers grilled the Secret Service about when Target told them about the breach, and another hearing is slated for Tuesday. That’s when Target CFO John Mulligan will be in the…
FTC wants to be enforcer of data security
Jaikumar Vijayan Despite growing pushback from companies and powerful industry groups, the Federal Trade Commission continues to insist that it wants to be the nation’s enforcer of data security standards. The FTC, over the past years, has gone after companies that have suffered data breaches, citing the authority granted to it under a section of…