On October 27, 2021, the FTC released its much-anticipated final revisions to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Safeguards Rule (Safeguards Rule or Final Rule), following a 3-2 vote along party lines and also released a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require reporting to the FTC of certain cybersecurity events. Revisions to the Safeguards Rule Effective since 2003, […]
Treasury FinCEN Releases Financial Trend Analysis of Ransomware Trends in 2021
By Kim Peretti, Brian Frey, and Kristen Bartolotta On October 15, 2021 the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) of the Treasury Department issued a financial trend analysis on ransomware relating to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting filed in the first half of this year. FinCEN examined ransomware-related Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed between January 1 […]
Department of Justice Announces New Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team
by Kim Peretti and Kristen Bartolotta On October 6, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). This team was created to tackle complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal misuses of cryptocurrency, particularly crimes committed by virtual exchanges and money laundering infrastructure actors. Because of the […]
Department of Justice Announces New Civil Fraud Cybersecurity Enforcement Team
On October 6, 2021, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco announced the launch of the Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative. The Department plans to use civil enforcement tools to “pursue…those who are government contractors who receive federal funds, when they fail to follow required cybersecurity standards.” Stating the Department will pursue “very hefty fines,” […]
Key Takeaways from OFAC’s Updated Ransomware Advisory
On September 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued an “Updated Advisory on Potential Sanctions Risks for Facilitating Ransomware Payments.” While this advisory explicitly supersedes OFAC’s previous ransomware advisory from October 2020, it does not fundamentally alter OFAC’s approach towards ransom payments. Like the prior guidance, OFAC’s […]