Only four months in and 2021 has already been a big year for state cybersecurity safe harbor legislation. Two states, Utah and Connecticut, have recently enacted or introduced a breach litigation safe harbor to incentivize businesses to protect personal information by adopting industry-recognized cybersecurity frameworks such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) […]
Data Protection
NYDFS Announces Cybersecurity Settlement, Addresses Multi-Factor Authentication Rules
On April 14, 2021, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) announced a settlement with National Securities Corporation (“National Securities”), a licensed insurer, in connection with claims under the NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation (23 NYCRR Part 500). The consent order requires payment of a $3M penalty and mandatory remediation in response to alleged failures to […]
The GDPR Reaches the US Supreme Court in Cert Petition
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been raised in a petition for certiorari before the US Supreme Court, apparently for the first time since the GDPR entered into application in 2018. A party in Vesuvius USA Corp. v. Phillips has filed a petition for certiorari in a GDPR-related discovery dispute. Of course, since […]
NYDFS Reports Major Cybersecurity Settlement
In early March, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced a settlement involving a $1.5M penalty and mandatory remediation in response to a mortgage lender’s alleged failure to report a cyber breach, and other alleged cybersecurity failures. This enforcement action marks the second public enforcement action under 23 NYCRR Part 500 (the “Cybersecurity […]
European Commission Adopts Draft UK Adequacy Decision
On February 19, 2021, the European Commission adopted a draft ‘adequacy decision’ in favor of the UK. The adoption of the draft adequacy decision marks the first step in ensuring the continued free flow of personal data from EEA countries to the UK under the EU GDPR. Once (and if) the final adequacy decision is […]