As ransomware attacks continue to dominate the news cycle, legislation has recently been introduced in several states that would place limits on certain entities’ ability to pay a ransom payment in the event of a ransomware attack. Although the proposed limits would generally apply to state agencies and other local governmental authorities, certain state proposals […]
Cybercrime
The Supreme Court Narrows The Scope of The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Today, the Supreme Court issued a long-awaited decision in Van Buren v. United States interpreting the meaning of “exceeds authorized access” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). The 6-3 majority, led by Justice Barrett and joined by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, Kagan, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh, rejected the Government’s broad definition of this phrase. While […]
New York and Illinois Regulators Recommend Third Party Cybersecurity Review For Specific Vulnerabilities
This month, the Illinois Department of Insurance issued guidance to insurers recommending assessments in response to a Microsoft Exchange vulnerability, detailed in the guidance. In the Bulletin dated May 5, the Department encourages regulated entities to “assess the risk to their systems and consumers and take steps necessary to address vulnerabilities and customer impact.” The […]
FBI Releases IC3 2020 Internet Crime Report Showing Record Increase in Cybercrime
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (“IC3”) recently released its annual report, the 2020 Internet Crime Report (“Report”), which gathers statistics from nearly 800,000 complaints of suspected cybercrimes that the department received in 2020. This is a record number of complaints—a 69% increase from 2019—with reported losses exceeding $4.2 billion. According to the FBI, the […]
Russia Sanctioned For Role In SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack
On April 15, 2021, the Biden Administration took a significant step in announcing sanctions against the Russian Government and private Russian entities for multiple internationally-destabilizing activities, including the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service’s (SVR) supply chain attack of the SolarWinds Orion platform and other technology infrastructures. In addition to the sanctions, the Administration also provided practical […]