Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • 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.

  • December 11, 2024

    Legal Ed Cos. Shared Customers' Data, Suit Claims

    Two companies offering continuing legal and professional education content have been hit with a class action in Georgia federal court over allegations that they nonconsensually disclosed customers' identities and video viewing information to Meta Platforms Inc. for its advertisers' use.

  • December 11, 2024

    Law Firm Manager Gets Prison For Bribes In No-Fault Scam

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday hit a former law firm manager with a five-year prison sentence for paying $800,000 in bribes that fueled a $70 million no-fault automobile insurance fraud racket, saying his lawbreaking "was massive in scope."

  • December 11, 2024

    WordPress Parent Must Restore WP Engine's Access

    A California federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday restoring WP Engine's access to WordPress while the web hosting company pursues its antitrust allegations against WordPress parent Automattic and CEO Matthew Mullenweg, claiming it was blocked from the site after refusing to pay millions of dollars to Automattic.

  • December 11, 2024

    FBI Director Wray To Resign Before Trump's Inauguration

    FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday he will resign in January at the end of President Joe Biden's term, averting what was expected to be his dismissal when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

  • December 11, 2024

    CFPB's Chopra Won't Head For Exit Ahead Of Trump's Arrival

    Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra signaled Wednesday that he won't leave his post early unless and until the incoming Trump administration fires him next month, indicating that he plans to keep running the agency in the meantime.

  • December 10, 2024

    US Sanctions Chinese Hacker, Employer For Firewall Exploits

    A Chinese national is facing federal charges and U.S. sanctions, with prosecutors accusing him of scheming to exploit tens of thousands of firewalls, including those the government noted Tuesday protected sensitive systems of companies that run oil rigs and vital infrastructure.

  • December 10, 2024

    3rd Circ. Judge Unsure Subpoena Chills Anti-Abortion Donors

    A Third Circuit panel on Tuesday weighed whether an anti-abortion pregnancy center would suffer irreparable harm absent a court order blocking the enforcement of a subpoena seeking information about its donors, questioning whether donors would be imminently chilled if their names are disclosed to New Jersey investigators.

  • December 10, 2024

    Google Takes Aim At Ad Tech Antitrust Claims In States' Suit

    Google has blasted the lawsuit accusing it of illegally manipulating the advertising market, saying that Texas and the roughly dozen other states behind the litigation are "playing a shell game" in which they serially amend their complaints to "avoid the weaknesses of their antitrust claims."

  • December 10, 2024

    FinCEN Says CTA Still Constitutional In Post-Injunction Alert

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has alerted companies that they do not currently need to file so-called beneficial ownership information with the agency after a federal judge's nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Corporate Transparency Act, though the bureau maintained that the law calling for such information is constitutional.

  • December 10, 2024

    NC Law Firm, Insurer Drop Phishing Coverage Row

    A law firm specializing in real estate transactions and its cyber insurer told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday they've agreed to settle their dispute over coverage for a phishing scam the firm said caused it to unwittingly wire roughly $647,000 to the hacker's bank account.

  • December 10, 2024

    Trump Taps Ferguson As FTC Chief, Kressin Atty To GOP Seat

    President-elect Donald Trump named current Federal Trade Commission member Andrew N. Ferguson to be its next chair Tuesday night while also picking Kressin Meador Powers LLC partner Mark Meador, a former deputy chief counsel to Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to round out the FTC as its third Republican member.

  • December 10, 2024

    FCC Cracks Down Again On Failures To Block Robocalls

    The Federal Communications Commission will consider tougher compliance rules to ensure voice service providers take part in efforts to cut robocalls, also saying Tuesday that more than 2,400 providers could face enforcement action for failing to meet existing filing requirements.

Expert Analysis

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • 4 Steps To Address New Sanctions Time Bar Extension

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    Recent guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control clarifies details of the newly extended statute of limitations for civil and criminal enforcement of U.S. sanctions law, so compliance teams should implement key updates, including to lookback periods and recordkeeping policies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Incident Response Lessons From The CrowdStrike Failure

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    CrowdStrike's incident highlights a growing problem within modern digital infrastructures — single points of failure that cause widespread disruption when things go wrong — so organizations should carefully review their digital infrastructure to identify unique areas of exposure or vulnerability, say Erik Dullea at Husch Blackwell and Kip Boyle at Cyber Risk Opportunities.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • What FCA Cases May Look Like In The Age Of Generative AI

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    Generative artificial intelligence raises unique considerations both in the context of potentially leading to False Claims Act cases and in the discovery and litigation phases of these lawsuits, says attorney Rachel Rose.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • 3 Ways To Limit Risks Of Black-Box AI In Financial Services

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    As regulators increasingly highlight the potential for artificial intelligence to make unfair consumer credit decisions, and require financial institutions to explain how these so-called black-box algorithms arrive at conclusions, companies should consider three key questions to reduce their regulatory risks from these tools, say Jeffrey Naimon and Caroline Stapleton at Orrick.

  • Takeaways From EU's 'Pay Or Consent' Advertising Probe

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    Anne-Gabrielle Haie and Charles Whiddington at Steptoe examine key points from the European Commission's recent investigation into Big Tech's use of "pay or consent" advertising models, as well as the European Data Protection Board’s opinion on how such models can comply with EU competition and data protection laws.

  • Energy And AI: Key Issues And Future Challenges

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    Artificial intelligence promises new technical advantages for the energy industry, but it is also responsible for vast, and growing, energy consumption — so the future of AI and energy will require balancing technological advancement with regulatory oversight, environmental responsibility and infrastructure development, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • When Banks Unknowingly Become HIPAA Biz Associates

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    There appears to be significant confusion regarding the application of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to financial institutions when serving healthcare-related clients, so these institutions should consider undertaking several steps as a starting point in the effort to achieve compliance, say attorneys at Vorys.

  • The Regulatory Headwinds Facing Lab-Developed Tests

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    Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's final rule regarding regulation of laboratory-developed tests outlines a four-year plan for ending enforcement discretion, and though this rule is currently being challenged in courts, manufacturers should heed compliance opportunities immediately as enforcement actions are already on the horizon, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opting In To CIPA Risk Mitigation After New Precedent

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    A recent California federal court decision, adopting a new, broad interpretation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, will likely increase the volume of CIPA claims and should prompt businesses to undertake certain preventative measures, including adopting an opt-in approach to using third-party website advertising technologies, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.

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