Category: Cybersecurity Law

March 19, 2014

FTC Secures Nine Figure Judgment Against Single Co-Defendant in Scareware Case

After the FTC secured a $163MM judgment against Kristy Ross in the US District Court of Maryland, the 4th Circuit affirmed, and so ends the FTC’s six-year “scareware” enforcement action. From beginning to end, this odyssey has been quite colorful, to say the least. The nine-figure judgment against Ross is no exception. Originally, there were… Read More

February 25, 2014

Attorney General Holder Calls on Congress to Establish Strong National Data Breach Notification Standard

By Michelle Cohen, CIPP-US Yesterday, in his weekly video address, Attorney General Eric Holder urged Congress to create a national data breach notification standard requiring companies to quickly notify consumers of a breach of their personal or financial information.  In the wake of the high profile holiday season data breaches at retailers Target and Neiman Marcus,… Read More

January 29, 2014

Can Violating Social Media Terms of Use Make You Guilty of Violating the CFAA?

LinkedIn has filed a suit against John Does in response to a spate of “data scraping” perpetrated by unknown individuals, in violation of the website’s terms and conditions.This is the latest federal case in the Northern District of California in which a tech company seeks to enforce its contractual provisions through the criminal statute Computer… Read More

January 28, 2014

Data Privacy Day

By Michelle Cohen, CIPP-US On January 28th, in an effort raise awareness of privacy and data privacy, the United States, Canada and 27 countries of the European Union celebrate International Data Privacy Day.  Many organizations use Data Privacy Day as an opportunity to educate their employees and stakeholders about privacy-related topics.  With the recent, high-profile data… Read More

December 18, 2013

The Bitcoin Bubble Hasn’t Burst Yet, But The First Signs Of Trouble Are Brewing

By: Karl Smith and Casselle Smith  The value of Bitcoin, the hottest and most widely traded virtual currency, plunged a little over a week ago, after China’s central bank issued a statement that the government is banning financial institutions from trading in the virtual currency.The price of a single Bitcoinfell from roughly $1200 on December… Read More

December 11, 2013

Taking Advantage of a Video Poker Glitch Can Land you in Jail in Nevada

Last month, federal prosecutors in Nevada filed a motion to dismiss an indictment that shined a bright light on overly broad federal criminal statutes and the abuse of prosecutorial discretion in using them. John Kane and Andre Nestor were each charged in an indictment in January 2011 with one count of conspiracy to commit wire… Read More

September 9, 2013

With Complaint Against LabMD, FTC Continues to Flex Enforcement Muscle on Data Security

The Federal Trade Commission recently filed another complaint against a company for alleged data security lapses. As readers of this blog know, the FTC has initiated numerous lawsuits against companies in various industries for data security and privacy violations, although it is facing a backlash from Wyndham and large industry organizations for allegedly lacking the… Read More

July 30, 2013

FTC Orders Mobile Device Maker to Patch Up Its Software Security

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission recently approved a final order settling charges against mobile device manufacturer HTC America, Inc. HTC develops and manufactures mobile devices based on the Android, Windows Mobile, and Windows Phone operating systems. This case, which focuses on device security, is the FTC’s first case against a device… Read More

July 5, 2013

Andrew Auernheimer Appeals Hacking Conviction in This Internet Law Case

Earlier this week, attorneys for convicted computer hacker Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer filed their opening brief in their appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to have his conviction overturned. In 2010, Auernheimer’s co-defendant Daniel Spitler, who agreed to plead guilty in 2011, discovered a flaw in AT&T’s iPad user database, that… Read More