Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • December 13, 2024

    Lawmakers Press Tech Giants As TikTok D-Day Looms

    A pair of lawmakers on Friday leaned on TikTok to ensure it meets a Jan. 19 deadline to sell its operations or face a U.S. ban, while also pressing tech giants Apple and Google to be prepared to deplatform the video-sharing app if it refuses to sell.

  • December 12, 2024

    Anti-Abortion Activists Say Clinic Pushed Bogus Hack Claim

    The lawyer for an anti-abortion "pregnancy crisis center" on Thursday accused a Massachusetts abortion provider of knowingly filing a "far-fetched" complaint falsely accusing his clients of computer hacking, after the plaintiffs said they will be dropping those allegations but adding new claims in an amended complaint.

  • December 12, 2024

    DOJ Seizes Rydox Cybercrime Site, Charges Administrators

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging two Kosovo citizens who ran the illicit website Rydox with multiple criminal counts after the U.S. government seized the website, which has been used by cybercriminals to buy and sell thousands of Americans' personal information and dating profiles.

  • December 12, 2024

    Texas AG Targets Instagram, Reddit Over Youth Data Security

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that his office is looking into minors' privacy and safety policies of more than a dozen tech companies, including Character.AI, Reddit and Instagram, as part of his long-running campaign to stop companies from selling minors' personal information without permission from their parents.

  • December 12, 2024

    USAA Inks $3.25M Data Breach Deal With 22K Customers

    More than 22,000 USAA customers have asked a New York federal judge to grant preliminary approval to a $3.2 million settlement to resolve a proposed class action alleging the company's security failures in its online insurance quote system allowed cybercriminals to open fraudulent memberships.

  • December 12, 2024

    3rd Circ. Backs Dismissal Of Anti-Abortion Group's Suit

    The Third Circuit on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of an anti-abortion pregnancy center's bid to block the enforcement of a subpoena seeking information about its donors, ruling its constitutional claims are not yet ripe.

  • December 12, 2024

    Photobucket Accused Of Training AI On Photos Sans Consent

    A proposed class action filed in Colorado federal court Wednesday alleges that image hosting website Photobucket unlawfully used billions of photographs uploaded by users for biometric data and training artificial intelligence.

  • December 12, 2024

    6th Circ. Appears Divided On Telecom Breach Reporting Rule

    A Sixth Circuit panel seemed split over the Federal Communications Commission's tightened telecommunications data breach rules, with one judge defending the commission as taking necessary steps to safeguard consumers from a "true" danger and another claiming that the rule seemed to run afoul of lawmakers' wishes.

  • December 12, 2024

    Insurer Seeks Exit From $1.35M Wire Loss Dispute

    A broker accused of negligently causing a buyer to lose roughly $1.35 million in a business acquisition because of a wrong email address should receive no coverage, its insurer told an Arizona federal court, citing three separate exclusions in the broker's business owners liability policy.

  • December 12, 2024

    MOVEit Data Breach MDL Survives Dismissal Bid

    Progress Software and a group of more than 100 businesses, healthcare providers and government agencies can't end a putative class action over a data breach tied to Progress' MOVEIt file transfer tool, a Massachusetts federal judge said Thursday.

  • December 12, 2024

    Mobile Trade Group's CEO To Leave Organization Next Year

    The president and CEO of mobile industry lobbying group CTIA will leave the organization when her contract expires next year, the group said Thursday.

  • December 12, 2024

    Treasury Seeks To Pause Anti-Laundering Law Injunction

    The U.S. Treasury Department asked a Texas federal judge to pause his nationwide preliminary injunction of the Corporate Transparency Act pending an appeal of his recent decision that found Congress likely overstepped its constitutional authority when it wrote the anti-money laundering law.

  • December 12, 2024

    Calif. Man Indicted In $8.8M Phishing Scheme

    A California man was indicted on charges he participated in a phishing email scheme that stole about $8.8 million from bank accounts belonging to businesses, individuals and the town of Bristol, Rhode Island.

  • December 12, 2024

    NTIA's Davidson Stepping Down Jan. 20

    The head of the U.S. Department of Commerce branch in charge of managing federal use of the airwaves as well as a sprawling broadband deployment program confirmed Thursday he will leave the role in January when the Biden administration ends.

  • December 11, 2024

    Feds Fire Back At TikTok's Bid To Halt Sale-Or-Ban Law

    The federal government Wednesday urged the D.C. Circuit to reject TikTok's bid to pause legislation poised to bar the app from the U.S. market next month while it takes its First Amendment fight to the Supreme Court, arguing TikTok is "downplaying" national security concerns that prompted the law.

  • December 11, 2024

    Google Likely Can't Nix Suit Over Collection Of Kids' Data

    A California federal magistrate judge indicated Wednesday that Google likely won't be able to escape a proposed class action alleging YouTube illegally collected children's data from targeted ads, saying a seventh version of the complaint sufficiently alleged that the tech giant "engaged in highly offensive conduct."

  • December 11, 2024

    MDL Judge Rejects Meta's Claim Discovery Is Burdensome

    A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in multidistrict litigation over social-media platforms' allegedly addictive designs on Wednesday rejected Meta Platforms' arguments additional discovery sought by personal-injury plaintiffs is overly burdensome, noting that Meta's discovery production pales in comparison to the millions of documents that Meta has demanded from plaintiff states.

  • December 11, 2024

    Big Tech, 'Censorship' Animate Trump FTC Picks

    President-elect Donald Trump's picks Tuesday to lead and join the Federal Trade Commission show he plans to continue Washington's focus on antitrust enforcement against major technology platforms, while also signaling a potential shift toward more populist Republican concerns alleging that Big Tech censors conservative voices.

  • December 11, 2024

    Dems, GOP Agree That China Cyberspying Is A Problem

    For all their disagreements, Republicans and Democrats were largely singing the same tune Wednesday afternoon at a Senate hearing on the security of the nation's communications networks — that they're worried, and the government needs to get to work on a solution.

  • December 11, 2024

    Montana Justices Uphold Temporary Block On Trans Care Ban

    Montana's highest court delivered a key victory for transgender youths and healthcare practitioners on Wednesday in a decision finding that privacy rights afforded by Montana's constitution favor a halt to the state's ban on gender-affirming care while litigation against it proceeds.

  • December 11, 2024

    Palo Alto Networks Seeks Exit From Investors' 'Vague' Suit

    Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks and three of its executives have asked a San Francisco federal judge to toss a consolidated proposed investor class action over allegedly concealed "headwinds," arguing that its investors failed to show they'd known the company would eventually lower certain financial projections.

  • December 11, 2024

    High Court Urged To Take Up Web Scraping Trade Secret Spat

    An insurance agent is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his challenge to an Eleventh Circuit ruling reviving software company Compulife's copyright claim against him, saying the high court should resolve an issue surrounding web scrapes of public information.

  • December 11, 2024

    Ex-Rep. TJ Cox Reaches Plea Deal On Fraud Charges

    Former U.S. Rep. T.J. Cox reached a deal with California federal prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to two charges and pay up to a $3.5 million fine over allegations he stole from his companies and took illegal campaign contributions, according to a plea agreement filed Wednesday. 

  • December 11, 2024

    Ga. Judge Refuses To Reconsider Toss Of Patient Data Suit

    A Georgia federal judge has refused to reconsider the dismissal of a proposed class action alleging Piedmont Healthcare Inc. unlawfully shared patients' health data with Facebook via the company's tracking pixel tool.

  • December 11, 2024

    Character.AI Encouraged Child To Kill His Parents, Suit Says

    Two minors and their parents sued Character.AI, its founders and Google in Texas federal court, alleging the "dangerous" technology exposed the children to hypersexualized and violent content, with a chatbot character even encouraging one of the kids to kill his parents because they limited his screen time.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Art Ruling Shows Courts' Training Data Cases Approach

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    A California federal court’s recent ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI, where the judge refused to throw out artists’ copyright infringement claims against four companies that make or distribute software that creates images from text prompts, provides insight into how courts are handling artificial intelligence training data cases, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • 'Pig Butchering': The Scam That Exploits Crypto Confusion

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    Certain red flags can tip off banks to possible "pig-butchering," and with the scam's increasing popularity, financial institutions need to take action to monitor entry points into the crypto space, detect suspicious activity and provide a necessary backstop to protect customers, say Brandon Essig and Mary Parrish McCracken at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Opinion

    Agencies Should Reward Corporate Cyber Victim Cooperation

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    The increased regulatory scrutiny on corporate victims of cyberattacks — exemplified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against SolarWinds — should be replaced with a new model that provides adequate incentives for companies to come forward proactively and collaborate with law enforcement, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings

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    Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • Until Congress Acts, EDNY 'Insider Betting' Case Is Premature

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    The Eastern District of New York’s novel wire fraud conspiracy indictment in U.S. v. Pham may have prematurely heralded a new era in federal gambling enforcement, but in the absence of an “insider betting” statute, sportsbooks — not prosecutors — should be responsible for enforcing their terms of use, says attorney Jonathan Savella.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • What BIPA Reform Law Means For Biometrics Litigation

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    A recently signed Illinois law amending the Biometric Information Privacy Act limits defendants' liability exposure on a per-scan basis and clarifies that electronic signatures constitute a valid written release, establishing additional issues that courts will need to address in future BIPA litigation, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • 6 Considerations To Determine If A Cyber Incident Is Material

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on material cybersecurity incidents covers a range of ransomware scenarios, from a company paying a sum and regaining operations to recovering payment via cyberinsurance, but makes it clear that no single factor determines whether a cybersecurity incident is material, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • Series

    After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC

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    Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.

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