Retention of records in South Africa
Posted in CybersecurityTopic: Cybersecurity
Subscribe to Cybersecurity RSS feed Posted in CybersecurityThe UK’s ICO issues a monetary penalty notice to professional services firm after ransomware attack
Congress Agrees – 72-Hour Cyber Incident Reporting Requirement to Take Effect
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach, Ransomware
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed an omnibus spending bill into law, which, in part, requires companies to report cyber incidents and ransom payments. The relevant portions of the law, titled the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (“Act”) proposes reporting requirements for incidents, establishes new programs to curtail ransomware attacks … Continue reading
Proposed cybersecurity rules for SEC registered advisers and funds
Posted in CybersecurityOn February 9, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released a proposal aimed at enhancing cybersecurity risk management programs, including cybersecurity preparedness and response, for registered investment advisers (“advisers”), investment companies and business development companies (“funds”). Overall, the proposal addresses the following rule amendments and additions: 1. Cybersecurity Policies and Procedures Under the … Continue reading
European rulings on the use of Google Analytics and how it may affect your business
Recent decisions out of the EU will impact the use of Google Analytics and similar non-European analytics services when targeting EU individuals, with the potential to put many organizations at risk of receiving GDPR fines. At issue was the transfer of personal data from the EU to the US through the use of Google Analytics. … Continue reading
New York SHIELD Act $600,000 settlement
Posted in Cybersecurity
On January 24, 2022, the New York Attorney General (AG) announced a settlement with vision-benefits-provider EyeMed Vision Care, Inc., relating to a 2020 security incident where a threat actor obtained access to an email account that enabled the threat actor to get access to personal information of consumers including, but not limited to, , dates … Continue reading
Who gets to decide to pay the ransom in a ransomware attack?
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach, RansomwareThe onslaught of ransomware attacks since the pandemic began has not slowed. Organizations have been faced with the task of continuously reviewing their cybersecurity programs to ensure they are following best practices to protect against ransomware groups. But organizations also need to be prepared to respond to such an attack if their cybersecurity practices are … Continue reading
Cyber authorities sound the alarm on critical vulnerability In Java Library
On December 9, 2021 a critical vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228) was reported within the Apache Log4j Java logging framework. The vulnerability allows threat actors to remotely execute code on both on-premises and cloud-based application servers, thereby obtaining control of the impacted servers. This is a critical vulnerability of very high significance to government and industry groups. See … Continue reading
Flurry of activity in the Privacy Act review, including tougher penalties and new online privacy framework
Posted in Cybersecurity
This article was co-authored with India Bennett. After months of anticipation regarding the ongoing review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Federal Government has galvanized the Australian privacy landscape with two significant developments. Firstly, the Government has released a discussion paper about the reform of the Privacy Act. The discussion paper considers stakeholder feedback on the issues paper released in October 2020 … Continue reading
Privacy legislation reform: Bill 64 has now been passed
Hong Kong: Bill to combat doxxing acts passed
Posted in Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy law
The Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Bill 2021 (the Bill) aimed at combatting doxxing in Hong Kong was passed on 29 September 2021. As discussed in our earlier post, the Bill amends the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO) by: introducing offences to criminalize doxxing acts; empowering the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (the Commissioner) to conduct … Continue reading
US Senate considers mandating 24-hour reporting requirement for ransom payments
Posted in Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, General, Ransomware
On September 28, 2021, the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released a draft bill that would, among other things, require nearly all entities that make a ransom payment as the result of a ransomware attack against the entity to report the payment to the Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency … Continue reading
Connecticut tightens its data breach notification laws
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach
Effective October 1, 2021, an amendment[1] to the Connecticut General Statute concerning data privacy breaches, Section 36a-701b, will impact notification obligations in several significant ways. The amendment: Expands the definition of “personal information”; Shortens the notification deadline after discovery of a breach from 90 to 60 days; Removes the requirement to consult with law enforcement … Continue reading
What dogs can teach companies about privacy and security
Posted in CybersecurityYou may not believe that dogs have much to do with privacy and security, but on September 20, 2021, New Jersey’s highest state court ruled that dog owners’ names and addresses were public and therefore not exempt from disclosure by a city dog licensing authority, but other information (such as dog breed and name) raised … Continue reading
OFAC Announces New Measures to Address Ransomware Attacks
Posted in Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Ransomware
The U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) implemented additional measures today to combat the growing ransomware problem. OFAC’s measures consist of: (1) the designation of the entire SUEX OTC, S.R.O. (“SUEX”) crypto-currency exchange (SUEX) to the SDN List; (2) designating a fairly large number (~25) additional digital currency addresses to the … Continue reading
US SEC announces three actions charging firms for cybersecurity deficiencies
Posted in Cybersecurity, EnforcementProposed “Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2021”
Posted in CybersecurityPIPL: A game changer for companies in China
Posted in Compliance and risk management, Cybersecurity
China passed its Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) on 20 August 2021. This is China’s first omnibus data protection law, and will take effect from 1 November 2021 allowing companies just over two months to prepare themselves. The PIPL is a game changer for any company with data or business in China. It will add … Continue reading
China passes the Personal Information Protection Law
Posted in Compliance and risk management, CybersecurityChina passed its Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) on 20 August 2021. The new law will take effect from 1 November 2021 allowing companies just over 2 months to prepare themselves. The full text has not been made public yet. In addition, China published the Provisions on the Administration of Security of Automobile Data (For … Continue reading
“Am I a CII operator?” – New regulation in China provides more clarity
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data Transfer, Regulatory response
China’s Cyber Security Law (CSL), enacted in 2016, requires operators of critical information infrastructure (CII) to follow a number of enhanced security obligations, including storing within China all personal information and important data collected or generated during their operations in China. Given the more onerous obligation on CII operators, we are constantly asked the same … Continue reading
China’s evolving data laws: PIPL likely to be passed soon
Posted in Cybersecurity, GeneralChina’s much anticipated Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) is very likely to pass this month after the conclusion of the 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which is to be held in Beijing on 17-20 August. This follows the enactment earlier this year of the Data Security Law (DSL), which … Continue reading
Another One Bites the Dust: Court once again finds data breach forensic report isn’t protected by privilege
On July 22, 2021, a federal court in Pennsylvania held that an investigative report created by Kroll (the “Kroll Report”), the defendant’s third party cybersecurity consultant, and related communications were not protected by privilege. The court found that the Kroll Report was not protected by the work-product doctrine or attorney-client privilege. The decision comes after … Continue reading
Connecticut enacts cybersecurity breach safe harbor
Posted in Cybersecurity, Data breach
On July 6, 2021, Connecticut enacted a new law (Public Act 21-119) that creates a safe harbor for companies that followed certain cybersecurity protocols in the event there’s a security breach.… Continue reading
US NYDFS settles cybersecurity regulation matter for US$1.8M
Posted in Cybersecurity
On May 13, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a $1.8 million settlement with two related insurance companies, relating to violations of two different requirements of the NYDFS cybersecurity regulation during the period 2018 to 2019.… Continue reading
