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 Breach Litigation
Another Court Dismisses Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit for Lack of Standing
In what appears to be a growing trend, another federal district court has dismissed a data breach case for lack of standing. In Springmeyer et al. v. Marriott International, Inc., 2021 WL 809894 (D. Md.), Plaintiffs, former guests of Marriott hotels, sued Marriott in connection with a data breach affecting over 5 million guests. Marriott moved […]
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 […]
Eleventh Circuit Holds Risk of Future Harm Does Not Establish Article III Standing
As part of a growing trend, the Eleventh Circuit recently held that an alleged risk of future identity theft does not establish standing where the plaintiff does not allege any information has actually been misused. Tsao v. Captiva MVP Rest. Partners, LLC, No. 18-14959, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 3055 (11th Cir. Feb. 4, 2021). The […]
Federal Court Rules Cyber Forensic Report Is Not Protected Under Attorney-Client Privilege Or Work Product Doctrine
On January 12, 2021, Judge Boasberg (D.D.C.) ruled that a forensic report prepared for outside counsel following a cyber incident investigation was not protected under either attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. The investigation in question was run by outside counsel and the security firm had been retained by outside counsel. This decision is […]