Which regulatory leader wants comprehensive data security laws? The FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez

Why the push for data security laws?

• Hacks aren’t going away
• Laws need to address how entities gather, save and disseminate personal information

Daily Dashboard | FTC’s Ramirez calls for comprehensive data security laws

Top business sector for data breach complaints: Finance

Have data security laws led to more enforcement actions?

What benefit of data security laws is highlighted? breach notification to impacted customers

Information Age | The financial data divide: regulations are not having the desired effect

The state: New York

The NY State Agency: New York Comptroller

The School District: Avon School District

The Avon School District’s data security failings:

• not adopting policies for managing passwords
• not backing up data
• not protecting its employees’ and students’ personal, private and sensitive information
• making the school district more vulnerable to data breach
• providing too many employees access to financial information of the school district
• for failing to implment the recommended data security policies under a 2009 review

Livingston County News | State faults Avon schools’ lack of data security policies

Which state added curriculum changes in its student data protection laws? Delaware

What changes ere made to public school curriculum? data security training

Why train teachers and students on data security? because human error is the largest driver of data breaches

Delaware Public Meda | First State working to incorporate data privacy training into ed prep programs

Bonjour to Canada’s Privacy Commission who oversees the data privacy of Canadians. 

The Privacy Commissioner recommended these changes to national data security laws for 2016:

Data security breach reporting should include:

• The company’s name;
• Contact information for someone who can answer questions on the company’s behalf;
• Description of the breach, including:
  • The estimated number of users affected;
  • The personal information leaked;
  • The date of the breach, if known, or an estimated date or date range if unknown;
• A list of other organizations involved in the breach, such as affiliates or third party processors;
• An assessment of the risk faced by individuals as a result of the breach;
• A description of any steps planned or taken to notify affected individuals, including:
  • A notification date;
  • Whether the party has been or will be notified, whether they will be notified directly or indirectly, and if indirectly notified, why (more on this below);
  • A copy of the notification;
• A list of third party organizations that were notified of the breach;
• A description of measures the company has taken or will be taking to contain the breach and reduce its risk to affected users;
• A description of the organization’s related safeguards, taking improvements against future breaches into account.

Which state passed student data protection bills in 2016? Colorado

What does the new legislation cover? 

• the gathering of student data
  • requires notice & consent
• the storage of student data
  • limits on the length of storage
• require all contractors to maintain comprehensive information security programs
  • limits contractors from sharing information unless there is express consent
• no target advertising 
• no building student profiles

JD Supra | Thompson Coburn LLP| Colorado jumps into student data privacy protection with new privacy law

Colorado joins 35 states that have passed student data protection laws in the last 2 years.

JD Supra | Thompson Coburn LLP| Colorado jumps into student data privacy protection with new privacy law

Connecticut passed student data privacy legislation in 2016.

A group of mothers who started the push for student data privacy reform are touting its benefits:

• Restricting student information use by contractors providing educational software and electronic storage of student records and by operators of websites, online services, or mobile applications (i.e., apps).
• Clarifying ownership student data collected for school purposes is not owned by any of these third-party contractors.
• Parental Notification. Requiring local boards of education to notify parents when they execute a new contract with a software, data storage, or internet service provider.
• Procurement Contract Requirements. Stipulating data security and privacy provisions that must figure in all contracts between local school districts and software, data storage, and internet service providers.
• Local Control. Requiring school districts to withhold the release of student directory information if the local or regional board of education determines that a request for such information is not related to school purposes.

Easton Courier | Legislation will protect student data privacy

What groups are concerned by model student data privacy laws? 24+ civil liberties and advocacy organizations

What’s the model act called? Employee and Student Online Privacy Protection Act

The privacy concerns about the model act:

• broad and vague

• does not prevent school administrators & employers from coercing or requiring students and employees to turn over highly sensitive social media account information

• violates the Fourth or Fifth Amendment

Electronic Fronteir Foundation | EFF and ACLU-led Coalition Opposes Dangerous “Model” Employee and Student “Privacy” Legislation

Why do health and services entities need to pay more attention to ransomware?

• Ransomware is different from a regular data breach
• Ransomware impacts patient safety by siezing a health care provider’s computer systems
• Ransomware directly impacts health care operations

Gov Info Security | Congressmen: Ransomware Requires New Guidance​

Concerns related to maintaining  data collection: Make certain the state collects enough data necessary  to improve schools

Concerns to protect student data from voucher schools: Student data must be protected from “voucher schools” that would use the data to advertise to public school students

Milwaukee Star Tribune | Legislators to study how to protect student data

The state: Minnesota

The approach to student data protection: Recommendations for the 2017-2018 Minnesoata Legislature

The focus: 3 Points of focus:

• The information collected by its state department of education
• Whether it is necessary for the state to collect the student data
• The use of student data by vendors

Milwaukee Star Tribune | Legislators to study how to protect student data

The State: North Carolina

The cybersecurity apprenticeship qualifications:

• 10% disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs
• $600,000 per year
• Allows the Department of Information Technology to hire and train five veterans for cybersecurity-focused positions

State coop | North Carolina moves closer to creating cyber apprenticeship program for disabled vets

• toys and apps gather personally identifiable information
• access to names, birthdates, and gender
• Hackers could exploit cybersecurity weaknesses within these devices as an entrance point to a family’s wireless networks

Augusta Free Press | Warner calls on FTC to protect children’s data security

What type of schalarly research is hitting against anti-hacking laws?

• Michigan & Illinois researchers are looking at real estate websites to track discriminatory practices
• Northeastern University researchers are looking at discriminatory practices in job posting websites

How do they run afoul with anti-hacking laws? The researchers generate faux profiles on the websites they are researching

WallStreet Journal | First Amendment Suit Claims Anti-Hacking Law Criminalizes Scholarly Research

The key tort issue in data breaches: whether the consumer has been injured

What’s the argument if hackers have your information isn’t that a harm to a consumer? Some courts say yes, other courts say no.

Where are cases proceeding where the harm of the data breach is only having your personal information hacked? Judges in California, Illinois and other states

Wallstreet Journal | For Consumers, Injury Is Hard to Prove in Data-Breach Cases

How? Via laptop theives can open doors, and start an ignition to steal late model cars prompting new laws against auto manufacturers to secure vehicle data

Is this in Texas? Yes. Houston has recorded theft of a 2010 Jeep

Which manufacturers are targeted? Known hacks of autombilies are of Fiat Chrysler, GM and Tesla vehicles

WallStreet Journal | Thieves Go High-Tech to Steal Cars

• Retaining too much data
• Employee unintentional or intentional error
• Customer data security when customers access accounts
• 3rd party vendors
• Being consumed by 1 threat, makes a bank vulnerable to other data security threats

American Banker | What’s the Biggest Threat to Data Security?

Citizens in the UK dislike both the European Union and Businesses that have data breaches. 

An overwhelming majority supporting fining businesses & the recommendation has made it to Parliament.

Computer Weekly | UK consumers support fines for firms that lose personal data

UK Parliament | Cyber Security: Protection of Personal Data Online

Out with PINS in with biometric identifiers to access banking information. 

Why switch from PIN numbers to biometrics at financial institutions? 

• traditional passwords are too cumbersome
• traditional passwords are no longer secure

New York Times | DealB%k | Goodbye, Password. Banks Opt to Scan Fingers and Faces Instead.

• Major data breaches occured via a 3rd party contractor (Target, Home Depot, etc…)
• The cost of a major data breach increases annually, and it hits the company that hired the 3rd party contrator
• FICO is rolling out a data security score called an Enterprise Security Score

Pymnts.com | Procurement Is Ground Zero For Cybersecurity Protection

Which school district was affected by an internal hack? Abingdon-Avon School District, IL

Who is thought to have  hacked the school district internally? The Head of its IT

The purported purpose? Changing grades

The state law charges? 3 felony counts of Eavesdropping

KWQC | Abingdon-Avon employee arrested in relation to data breach

What campaign related voter information was hacked?   Voter files compiled by  L2, a political data brokerage, but hacked from a client (campaign) that left the voter information unprotected on a cloud

What type of voter information was exposed?   names, addresses, political preferences and opinions on social issues

Where were the hackers? Serbia or routed through Serbia

The Hill | US voter database accessed from Serbian server

The Federal Trade Commission publishes “Start with Security: A Guide for Business” & offers these recommendations for business:

• Don’t collect personal information you don’t need.

• Hold on to information only as long as you have a legitimate business need.

• Don’t use personal information when it’s not necessary.

• Restrict access to sensitive data.

• Limit administrative access.

• Insist on complex and unique passwords.

• Store passwords securely.

• Guard against brute force attacks.

• Protect against authentication bypass.

• Keep sensitive information secure throughout its lifecycle.

• Use industry-tested and accepted methods.

• Ensure proper configuration.

• Segment your network.

• Monitor activity on your network.

• Ensure endpoint security.

• Put sensible access limits in place.

• Train your engineers in secure coding.

• Follow platform guidelines for security.

• Verify that privacy and security features work.

• Test for common vulnerabilities.

• Put it in writing.

• Verify compliance.

• Update and patch third-party software.

• Heed credible security warnings and move quickly to fix them.

• Securely store sensitive files.

• Protect devices that process personal information.

• Keep safety standards in place when data is en route.

• Dispose of sensitive data securely.

Are all data breaches electronic? No, hard copies of personal information are still sources of data breaches.

Are there examples of major data breaches that were based on hard paper copies? Yes. For example:

• The NFL medical record data breach of 2016
• A 2014 State of California investigation of Safeway for improperly disposing of customer records
• A 2011 find of NYPD records found in a trash bin

Do data breach laws discuss paper records?  No, not all. The Federal laws and these 8 states have added paper records to their data breach statutes:

•  Alaska
• Hawaii
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Massachusetts
• North Carolina
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Lexology | Patterson Bellknapp Webb & Tyler | The Paper Trail: The Potential Data-Breach Sitting in your Printer

Why Illinois updated its data security laws? To make the laws more consistent with technology

What additional personal information is covered by data breach law?

• health insurance
• medical information
• biometric information
• username and password or security questions

How will businesses be able to notify consumers of a breach? By email

Cook County Record | New IL legislation updates data breach law to cover more tech, speed required consumer notifications

According to the author of The Car Hacker’s Handbook, the data your car collects is more valuable to hackers than taking over control of your vehicle. 

Tech Crunch | The Car Hacker’s Handbook digs into automotive data security

Ponemon Institute released its annual data breach informatics. The cost of an average daa breach has risen to $7 million.

Law 360 | Data Breach Costs Rise To $7M Per Incident, Study Says

Which financial entity is facing an SEC fine for a data breach? Morgan Stanley

How much is the SEC fine? $1,000,000

What was the data breach? Security measures failed to prevent an employee from transfering account information to a private server that was hacked

What do federal rules require of financial entities? policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to protect customer data

The Hill | Morgan Stanley to pay $1M SEC fine for data breach

What government is requiring authorization from the governing body before a purchase of surveillance equipment can be made? Santa Clara County deep on Silicon Valley

Which police purchases will require approval?  Any law enforcement purchase of new surveillance technologies. e.g.:

• license plate scanners
• products that spoof cellphone towers
• closed-circuit cameras

What entities can approve the police technology?  County board and district attorney approval are required

Why require approval before law enforcement buys technology?

• too little oversight in the current system
• too many intrusive technologies are in use with the data retained

Are there other requirements for surveillance equipment? Yes, law enforcement is required to:

• publish annual surveillance reports detailing:
  • usage
  • how successful different technologies have been
  • complaints
  • internal audits not subject to privilege

The Hill | California county becomes first to restrict surveillance technology

Data Security is the 1 key element missing from the 7 states that have passed self driving car laws.

Cars can be hacked. Cars contain data. The data your car’s computers contain can be used for:

• direct & targeted marketing
• cam be accessed by hackers

California is addressing vehicle data via regulation by requiring:

• notice and consent
• before information can be collected from operators
• this excludes information that is needed to operate the vehicle

The Guardian | Self-driving cars: overlooking data privacy is a car crash waiting to happen

• passwords are valuable because we don’t change them and use them on multiple account
• its data mining material to engineer more information about your identity
• a hacker can use 4 year old LinkedIn data for their own illegal purposes, and 4 years later sell it openly on the black market. 

IT Pro Portal | Why four-year-old data is more valuable than you think

What cyber security threat could be helped by old school methods? Electric Grid Security

Who is proposing old school solutions? 4 U.S. Senators: King, Heinrich, Risch, Collins

What does the legislation call for? 

• 2 year study
• examinging technology that makes the grid vulnerable
• how the automated systems can be hacked remotely
• “reengineer the last mile of the energy grid  to isolate its most important systems”

The Hill | Senate bill would encourage ‘retro’ grid security approach 

What is civic hacking? hackers doing good to solve governmental problems

How does it work? The feds listed 16 issues that it needs helps with and called for a National Day of Civic Hacking. Examples include:

• application process for food stamps, business licenses, criminal record copies, business licenses, affordable housing, 
• developing a community platform for California’s Health and Human Services Commission

Code for America | 4th Annual National Day of Civic Hacking 

Which school district experienced a data breach of its W-2 data, and all data retlated to persons who have received payment from the school district? Concord, N.H.

When did the breach occur? April

How did the breach occur? Social engineering, a targeted approach in which the hacker masquerades as the superintendent soliciting information

Did the data breach result in the information being used? Yes, false tax returns were filed based on the hacked information

When did the school district discover the data breach? June 1st

When did the school district notify persons that their personal information was compromised? June 3rd

What 3 things did the notification suggest people do to protect their information?

•  Contact your personal banking institution(s) to make them aware of this breach; 
•  Register for a fraud alert; 
•  Contact institutions that hold any personal assets to make them aware of this breach.

What is ransomware? A data security attack that freezes computer data, but leaves the business, such as a hospital, otherwise functioning so that services are not disrupted. A ransom is  asked for and in exchange the data is liberated.

What statutes are states amending? Computer crimes to apply extortion to computer violations

What specific statutory tweaks is California considering after ransomware attacks at California hospitals?

• defines ransomware
• makes it a crime to use ransomware
• the criminal offense is punishable by 2-4 years in jail and a $10,000 fine

California Senate Bill 1137

Health IT Security | How Ransomware Affects Hospital Data Security

3 pieces of ransomware intel critical to hospital data security:

• Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology calls 2016 the year of ransomware
• Targets for ransomware are mobile devices and connected medical devices that offer access points for unauthorized users
• States are passing anti-ransomware legislation
  • College of Healthcare Information Management Executives support stronger hospital specific ransomwate legislation

Health IT Security | How Ransomware Affects Hospital Data Security

The equation for a data breach of NFL records:

• Store the health records on an athelic trainer’s laptop
• Print off some hard copies of medical records
• Leave the laptop and paper records in a car
• + one car burgular = NFL medical records stolen

The Hill | Report: Thousands of NFL medical records stolen

• Data breaches are costly
  • ​internal costs related to security improvements, mitigation & notification
  • regulatory costs
  • costs arising from 3rd party claims
• Identify risks, which for construction include:
  • ​file sharing with subcontractors
  • espcially for projects critical to infrastructure- hospitals, roads, energy facilities, governmetn facilities
• Cyber Insurance to help your business cover costs

Miami Herald | Cyberattacks can cripple the construction industry

What White House Proposal on data security affecting health care? On May 25, 2016 the White House released its final Data Security Policy Principles and Framework (Security Framework) for President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI).

What are the goals of the White House data security proposal?

• Build patient trust
• Adapatable security protocols
• Dependable data preservation
• Identify risks
• Transparency with patients
• Responsibility
• Sharing. Collaboration

What requirements do the goals translate into?

• Have comprehensive security plans
• Utilize risk maangement approaches to data security
• Utilize periodic 3rd party reviews of data security
• Establish access controls for data
• Train your staff
• Employ encryption
• Audit for Threats &  Share threats

White House | Precision Medicine Initiative and Data Security

White House | PMI Security Principles 

Who:     Federal Trade Commission

What:    Amendments to how companies disclose privacy policies & information to consumers

When:     Begins this fall

Standard of Review: The FTC favors corporate disclosures to consumers that are:

• shorter
• clearer
• easier-to-use

The Hill | Consumer protection agency to look at disclosure issues

• 21 Governors are presiding over State Cyber Security Commission.
• The 2 most recent states:
  • Colorado
  • Indiana

Who sits on State Cyber Security Commissions?

• Top IT leader in state government
• public safety agency heads
• executives from cyber companies
• federal officials

What are the goals of State Cyber Security Commissions?

• asses the security of state networks
• develop cyber security legislation

4 Point Checklist for State Cyber Security Commissions:

• Who should sit on the commission?
• What’s the commission’s deadline?
• What is required of the commission? an assessment? legislative recommendations?
• How should the group be structured?

State Scoop | As more governors convene cyber commissions, questions arise over effectiveness

• Financial Services support national data security standards & require nationwide data breach notification requirements for business
• Retailers oppose federal legislation for the detrimental effect on retailers
• The detrimental effect on retailers: applying banking rules on non-banks 

The Hill | Financial industry spars with retailers over data breach bill

The Hill | Retailers battle financial sector over data breach legislation

“Learning to be Watched: Surveillance Culture at School” report published  by the National Center for Education Policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder finds:

• schools are soft targets for comapnies gathering data
• free technology to school leads to data collection by the company
• anonymized student data does not mean  students’ personally identifiable information (PII) is fully or permanently protected

Washington Post | Schools are now ‘soft targets’ for companies to collect data and market to kids — report

• In 2016, 31 states introduced student data security bills
• in 2016, a total of 94 student data security bills were introduced
• The 4 fastest states to act in 2016 were:
  • New Hampshire: a study to make recommendations
  • Utah: data governance standards
  • Virginia: contracting limitations, data limitations for student & teacher data
  • West Virginia: State Board level data governance standards

District Administration | CIO News | 31 states introduce student data privacy bills

4 Key Pieces of Intel from how strong data security laws protect businesses:

• Global market. EU contracts require strong data protections clauses
• U.S. weak data security laws create uncertainty in the global market
• Cost Opportunities. What might cost small companies to comply in the short run, the harm to innovation of not having high data standards cost U.S. businesses more. 
• U.S. should be a leader in data security standards.

TechCrunch | Startups to Congress: Strong data security keeps us competitive

Who are the targets of Connecticut’s student data privacy bill?

• contractors with local boards of education, the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education
• operators of websites, online services and mobile apps

What will be required of education vendors?

• outline and maintain security practices
• prohibited from using personally identifiable student information for :
  • advertising purposes
  • any purpose apart from what their contract stipulates
• vendors cannot retain student records after the contract services have been fulfilled
• vendors must have procedures to alert school boards and parents of any suspected breach of data in no more than 48 hours.

Additional requirements specific to online vendors and contractors:

• no targeted advertising using student information
• prohbition from using student information for purposes unrelated to school
• required deletion of student information upon:
  •  request of a student, parent or school board
  • failure to do so results  in a civil penalty 

Connecticut HB 5469

Wilton’s HamletHub | Student Privacy Bill Heads to Governor’s Desk: Parents Get High Praise for Advancing this Groundbreaking Legislation!

Which entity promulgated the new federal contracting rule? Federal Acquisition Regulations (“FAR”) Council

Which data security rule for contractors are we talking about? Basic Safeguarding of Contractor Information Systems

Which contracts will be hit by the new rule?

• all acquisitions by any federal executive agency
• beginning June 15, 2016
• If a contractor’s information system may contain “Federal contract information,” 
• Applies to all subcontractors too

All contractors, and affected subcontractors will be required to meet 15 safeguards:

• Limit information system access to authorized users, processes acting on behalf of authorized users, or devices (including other information systems);
• Limit information system access to the types of transactions and functions that authorized users are permitted to execute;
• Verify and control/limit connections to and use of external information systems;
• Control information posted or processed on publicly accessible information systems;
• Identify information system users, processes acting on behalf of users, or devices;
• Authenticate (or verify) the identities of those users, processes, or devices, as a prerequisite to allowing access to organizational information systems;
• Sanitize or destroy information system media containing Federal Contract Information before disposal or release for reuse;
• Limit physical access to organizational information systems, equipment, and the respective operating environments to authorized individuals;
• Escort visitors and monitor visitor activity; maintain audit logs of physical access; and control and manage physical access devices; 
• Monitor, control, and protect organizational communications (i.e., information transmitted or received by organizational information systems) at the external boundaries and key internal boundaries of the information systems; 
• Implement subnetworks for publicly accessible system components that are physically or logically separated from internal networks;
• Identify, report, and correct information and information system flaws in a timely manner; 
• Provide protection from malicious code at appropriate locations within organizational information systems;
• Update malicious code protection mechanisms when new releases are available; and
• Perform periodic scans of the information system and real-time scans of files from external sources as files are downloaded, opened, or executed

Lexology | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP | Final Government Contractor Basic Data Security Rule Issued

• Performing due diligence on all data and security protocols when selecting and monitoring vendors;

• Developing privacy provisions for contracts with TPAs and other service providers over and above standard confidentiality agreements;

• Limiting access to sensitive information to necessary personnel;

• Training personnel on the law and the fiduciary responsibilities;

• Developing written policies and procedures detailing for personnel the applicable state and federal laws;

• Continuing to monitor and watch over service providers with access to sensitive data.

National Law Review | Jackson Lewis P.C. | Employee Benefit Plans and Data Security Issues

The FDIC announced on May 9th, 2 new data security initiatives:

• improved software to force encryption of portable devices
• hiring of a third party to assess FDIC information technology security and privacy programs

Bloomberg BNA | FDIC Takes New Initiative on Data Security Following Breaches

Executive GOV | FDIC Plans New Security Measures After Retroactive Data Breach Report

Will this be a legislative trend? Yes, because sextorition is not a crime. Individuals are charged under usual hacking crimes.

How does sextortion differ from ransomware?

• Ransomware is about money
• Sextorition is about power
• Ransomware holds your computer hostage
• Sextorition threatens to expose “secrets” unless certain nude images are transmitted

Who are the victims?

• 71% are under 18
• 91% are targeted by social media manipulation
• 7.3 years is the average state criminal sentence
• 29 years is the average federal criminal sentence

Sextortion | Brookings Institute 

Georgia Attorney General at the  National Association of Attorneys General said:

“I frankly think it’s absurd that there are 30 or 40 different state laws on cybersecurity and breach.”

Reed Smith LLP | Georgia Attorney General Supports Federal Data Breach Standard

In 2015, ​New Jersey expanded its data breach laws to apply to include these health care information holders that service New Jersey patients:

•  health insurance companies
• health service corporations
• hospital service corporations
• medical service corporations
• health maintenance organizations 

New Jersey also adopted new encryption standards that:

• Encrypt confidential patient information or secure personal information
• Utilize any method of technology rendering the information unreadable, undecipherable, or otherwise unusable by an unauthorized person

What personal information must be protected by encryption?

A first name, or first initial and last name linked with at least one of the following:

(1) Social Security number

(2) driver’s license number or other state identification card number

(3) address, or

(4) identifiable health information

New Jersey law Examiner | Consumer protection for healthcare data breaches in New Jersey

The FBI advice for ransomeware attacks, which hold a businesses data hostage for a ransom:

DO NOT PAY THE RANSOM.

Refresh my memory, what are some of these ransomeware attacks? Several hospitals in California have had their systems frozen by ransomeware, forcing a move to manual paper hospital administration. The ransoms have been as small as $8,000.

WallStreet Journal | CIO Journal | FBI Cyber Division Chief Advises Companies Not to Pay Ransom for Release of Data

Which appellate court are we talking about? 7th Circuit

What did they do to keep a data breech law suit alive? held that the threat of impending future harm from a data breach was enough to keep a data breach lawsuit alive

Lexology | Seventh Circuit Reinstates Data Breach Suit Against P.F. Chang’s

Which state is considering new health care data breach laws? California

What health companies are the targets of new data security laws? wearable devices and consumer-facing apps  that track health data like steps taken, heart rate, etc…

Read the bill: California Assembly Bill 2688

The bill’s highlights:

• require customers’ permission—via an “opt-in” request
• Without an opt-in,  personally identifiable information cannot be shared with advertisers, health plans, data resellers
• Prohibit an employer from discriminating against a worker based on findings from that employee’s health-tracker

Business’ concerns: Support privacy, concerned about overreach by government

Privacy Advocate concerns: Seek to require the devices to comply with California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.

The Recorder | Lawmakers Sweat Details of Consumer Health Privacy

Which Attorney General announced a 40% increase in data breach notifications? New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman

Why does the state A.G. track data breach notifications? In NY, businesses must notify the A.G. of a data breach and the A.G. assists in reaching consumers

Has the state improved efficiency for businesses reporting data breaches? Yes, the state moved to an electronic, web-based reporting system

Hudson Valley News Network | A.G. Announces Record Data Breach Notifications

Wall Street Journal | Data Breaches Rise While Companies Struggle With Detection

Michigan is proposing life in prison for someone who is convicted of either:

• hacking a vehicle to gain control over it; or
• stealing a vehicle’s data by hacking.

Tech.Mic | Get Caught Hacking a Car and You Could Get Life in Prison, Thanks to Proposed Bill

Michigan Senate Bill 928 

Michigan Senate Bill 927

Your informed intel:

Which state is making a move to cloud computing that is triggering data security issues and new procurement opportunities? Arizona

What procurement opportunities does the move trigger? 

• Opportunities for cloud based computing storage
• Opportunities for data security firms

Which data security standards will be required? All new procurement contracts and state data centers will have to meet standards contained in:

•  Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act standards

• the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act guidelines

• the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services strictures

State Scoop: Arizona lawmakers advance bill to spur statewide cloud migration

Why is there a data security issue with 3rd party tax collectors? 3rd party tax collectors receive taxpayer information from taxing jurisdictions

Why is does this raise data security risks? data theft is on the rise & businesses aren’t keeping up with data security protocols to protect taxpayer information

Accounting Today | Saying No to Outside Agencies in Tax Collections

An Office of Inspector General, Security Concerns, and health care contractors– Sound like a familiar mix?

Which health care contractors is the HHS OIG looking into? Medicare administrative contractors

What is the data security concern that is raised? the number of health care data gaps is INCREASING

Healthcare Dive | OIG report: More data security gaps at Medicare administrative contractors

Let’s peak into the Electronic Payments Coalition:

Electronic Payments Coalition- who are they?

• payments industry stakeholders
•  credit unions
• community banks
• trade associations
• payment card networks
• banks

What’s the point of the EPC? 

• EPC protects the value, innovation, convenience, security and competition that exists in the modern electronic payments system

What’s the EPC saying about the federal Data Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 2205)​?

• Retailers are wrong about their position. These reforms are common sense consumer protections.
• This bill would have stopped data breaches. 
• This bill is flexible for all retailers.  H.R. 2205 is scalable and flexible to the size and risk profile of the covered entity

EPC | EPC SUPPORTS COMMONSENSE MEASURES TO PROTECT CONSUMER DATA

What 4 Ways does the Health & Human Services Data Protection Act protect health care data?

• Creates the  Office of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) within HHS
• Creates a data protection arrangement between the new CISO, the HHS General Counsel, & the HHS CIO
• Keeps information technology & information security separate to ensure the highest level of security
• Incentivizes better security to protect health care data

Health IT Security | Healthcare Cybersecurity Bill Introduced for HHS Operations

What is the question answered by Attorney General Opinion KP-0076? Whether Bowie County can engage a private company to use a license plate reader data looking for vehicles that don’t have liability insurance?

Is there a fee splitting arangement in this scenario? Yes, the vehcile owner will get a letter from the District Attorney office, and fees will be split 50-50 between the County and the company.

Can this fee splitting arrangement with automatic license plate readers work? No.

What is the statutory solution to make automatic license plate readers ok for counties? Counties need specific authority for the “use of automated photographic or similar technology to enforce the state’s vehicle financial responsibility laws. “

What does the Attorney General analysis look like? Its a laundry list of all the uses for photo enforcement in Texas. The highlights:

• statutes  limit what local government it applies to
• statutes limit specifically what can be captured by the photgraphic enforcement
• statutes limit the kind of penalty that is permitted. (i.e. civil or criminal penalties)

Retailers and Financial Institutions are like the Hatfields & the McCoys when it comes to federal data security legislation.  

Here’s what you need to know when this fight comes to your state legislature:

• Fairness.  Retailers think it unfair to hold retialers to the financial institution standards for customer notification upon a data breach.
• Impact Beyond Small Businesses. The impact of imposing financial institution standards on businesses will impact businesses large and small that operate in the retail sector and all other ecnomc sectors.
• Agreement: Federal Laws are better than state laws. They agree that uniform federal laws that preempt state laws would be preferred for data security.
• Consumer Protections v. Overzealous Regulators. Priority of Democrats is  strong consumner protections, while Republicans are concerned about overzealous federal regulators.

The Hill | Retailers battle financial sector over data breach legislation

What group is calling for improved state data security systems? National Association of State Chief Information Officers

What sparked the call to arms? the cost of cyber crime world wide is $375 billion to $575 billion, which is labled a threat to democracy

What do the NASCIO propose states do? Create statewide cybersecurity ecosystem 

What would a statewide cybersecurity ecosystem link? 

NASCIO |  Advanced Cyber Analytics | April 2016

Politico | Morning CyberSecurity | STATES PUSHED TO UPGRADE CYBER ANALYTICS

WHO WAS CONVICTED: A woman in Pennsylvania reported her rape to the police

WHAT EVIDENCE LED TO CONVICTION: When police came to the scene, they collected as evidence the woman’s fitbit found laying in a hallway

WHY DID THE EVIDENCE INDICATE GUILT: The woman claimed she had gone to sleep and was later attacked, but the data downloaded from the Fitbit indicated the woman was walking about at the time and logged her heart rate

Wall Street Journal | Prosecutors Say Fitbit Device Exposed Fibbing in Rape Case

No. Nien. Nyett. Nej. A federal judge ruled that people caught in the data breach at Ashley Madison cannot remain anonymous. 

Why did these plaintiffs want to be anonymous? Fear of the impact to the professional and personal lives.

Why did the court deny the request? Because the data breach is not equal to instances when a person can remain anonymous. Those instances are reserved for minors, rape, or other highly sensitive matters.

Washington Post | People suing Ashley Madison for last year’s hack can’t be anonymous, judge rules

A poll commissioned by The App Association reveals a distrust of government on data security issues.

The informed intel:

• 54% trust tech companies to secure their personal information
• 21% trust the government to secure their personal information
• 7 in 10 believe hacking is increasing

The Hill | Poll: Voters trust tech companies ahead of FBI on data security

The Credit Union National Association proposed the following changes to credit card processing in Texas to improve data security:

• Data Security at Merchant Level. Require merchants receiving payment by credit or debit cards to protect the sensitive personal financial information they receive;
•  Require Consumers to Notify Card Processors of Breaches. Require card recipients to notify their card processor immediately upon detecting a breach, and require the information be provided to the issuing financial institutions by the card processors;
• Card Issues Should Cover Costs. Allow card issuers to recover costs and losses resulting from a business’s failure to protect or destroy the data; and
• Prohibit Merchants from Storing Card Data Beyond Transactions. Require anyone taking credit or debit cards to remove card data once the transaction is completed.

Credit Union National Association | Texas House committee hears CU’s data breach concerns

Which state jumped on the enanced data breach notification law bandwagon? Nebraska

What 3 changes did Nebraska make to its data breach laws?

• Expand the Data Triggering Notification to incude:
  • user name or email address along with
  • a password or security question and answer
  • that would permit access to an online account
• Expands who Receives notice of a breach. Companies also have to notify the State Attorney General.
• Encryption standard changed so that if the hackers got a hold of the encryption key, the data is no longer considered encrypted.

Nebraska’s LB 835

AdLaw Access | Nebraska Amends Data Breach Notification Law

Where did the ride share data report originate? UBER produced its first ever transparency report

The numbers of data requests from July 2015 to December 2015:

• 33 requests from government agencies
• 11,644,000 riders affected
• 583,000 drivers affected
• California, NYC, and Chicago governmental entities requested the most data
• 517,000 riders & 14,000 drivers impacted by a Houston, TX data request
• 370 riders & 370 drivers impacted by a San Antonio, TX data request

Uber | Transparency Report 

• Liability. did the data security standards create a lawsuit free for all because of the security standard minimum?
• Security Standards required for businesses.
  • the laws calls for reasonable standards
  • the Attorney General reported that Critical Security Controls created by the  Center for Internet Security should be the minimum

WallStreet Journal | Are California’s New Data Security Standards a Recipe for Liability?

Which legislative body is considering data security from the angle of improving existing computer infrastructure in government? Congress

What’s the cost associated with modernizing government computers? $ 3.1 Billion.

Bonjour procurement opportunities.

What’s the argument supporting infrastructure investment? “If we do not invest in our technology and cybersecurity now, we will have no one to blame for the next data breach but ourselves,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)

How will the funding operate? 

• The $3.1 billion will go into the Information Technology Modernization Fund
• Self-sustaining investment fund
• Allows for innovative & rapid upgrades to outdated & vulnerable IT systems
• Creates support for future federal technology infrastructure 

The Hill | House Dem stumps for Obama’s tech modernization push

What have state courts been saying across the country about data breach insurance? General Liability policies don’t cover data breaches

What happened this week to alter this legal trend? The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia found that a ageneral liability policy covered a data breach

What does the insurance company say? The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals got it wrong. General liability policy that covered “electronic publication of material” with “unreasonable publicity” is not a data breach policy

SC Magazine | Federal court bucks trend, rules general liability insurance covers data breach

What state legislature considered a bill to fine companies that do not decrypt after receiving a court order? California

What happened to this bill to fine companies? Died in committee without a vote

What did opponents to the bill say?

• forced decryption weakens security and personal privacy
• “Do we have a world where there’s no privacy whatsoever for the average citizen?
• Assuming that this body is OK with every agency in the U.S. having access to everything, every application, every phone … are we OK then with the government of Russia having it? China? Iran?
• Because once a backdoor is created, a backdoor exists.”

Who supports the bill? law enforcement

Who opposes the bill? Civil libertarians and tech companies
California Assembly Bill 1681

The Recorder | State Lawmakers Reject Decryption Bill

When did Dallas County have a data breach? In December 2015, it came to light that Dallas County had left personally identifiable information from 10s of 1000s accessible online for more than a decade.

How much does an average data breech cost to remediate? $80 per record. If it exposed 50,000 records that is a $4 million remediation minimum.

How does the remediation cost cover for Dallas County?

• information technology experts to investigate, repair, and secure data (Procurement Opportunity)
• expenses to provide legally required notifications to the citizens (Procurement Opportunity)
• costs to offer identity theft monitoring services (Procurement Opportunity)
• attorney fees (Procurement Opportunity)

  Legal Intelligencer | Cybersecurity Threats Pose Big Risks for Local Governments
   

• Tech & Privacy Interests don’t like provisions forcing technical assistance to government investigations
• Why the hestiancy over forced assistance? It will lead to greater data insecurity
• Ties the hand of businesses that want to provide their customers greater security

The Hill | Encryption bill draft worries tech community

CNET | Encryption bill would force companies to surrender user data

• The Bill creating the Washington State’s new Office of Privacy and Data Protection: Washington State House Bill 2875
• What will be the purpose of the new Office of Privacy & Data Protection?
  • ​Determine what information state agencies are collecting
    • Do we know in Texas? No
  • Work with agencies to reduce the amount of consumer data being collected
  • Monitor & assist wit citizen complaints
  • Annual privacy review of state data collection
  • Educate Washington State residents about consumers about privacy protection

University of Washington Today | UW law students lay groundwork for new state privacy office

CloudPassage has a new report on cybersecurity and high education institutions. Here’s the big picutre:

• None, Zero, Zilch, Nien of the Top 10 Computer Science programs in the country require security courses to graduate
• Of the Top 26 computer science programs, only #12 Michigan requires cyber security
• In 2015, there were 200,000 OPEN computer security positions in the U.S.

Why the lack of focus on cyber or data security among undergrads?

• Its been pushed as a niche area for graduate programs
• not enough graduate students are pursuing cyber security
• there is more of deamnd for “flashy” computer science programmers who can build apps

SC Magazine | Cybersecurity being overlooked by American universities: Report

In Legislative Appropriation Request Trends:

• 3rd party contracts to assess security at agencies
• HB 2783 (2013) required a study to see if agency computer systems were legacy.
  • Hello, 3rd party contracts to replace or upgrade legacy systems
  • Legacy systems are a higher security risk
  • Over 1/2 agency computer systems are

In 2015’s State Budget:

• Article IX, Section 9.10 : DIR prioritization of state agencies’ cybersecurity projects
• Article IX, Section 9.11, Cybersecurity Initiatives 
  • ​10 agency focus to improve data security by coordination & bulk purchasing:

                  (1)  Department of Aging and Disability Services;

• 1. (2)  Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services;

  2. (3)  Department of Family and Protective Services;

  3. (4)  Department of State Health Services;

  4. (5)  Health and Human Services Commission;

  5. (6)  Higher Education Coordinating Board;

  6. (7)  Office of Court Administration;

  7. (8)  Parks and Wildlife Department;

  8. (9)  Department of Insurance; and

  9. (10)  Department of Licensing and Regulation. 

  10. Strategy A.1.3, Statewide Security for DIR funding for statewide security policy & procedures 

  11. Strategy C.2.2.NetworkandTelecommunicationsSecurityServices  

      Strategy B.3.1, Statewide Cyber Security Services  for DIR risk managment & 3rd party security assessments

       

      LBB | Overview of Cybersecurity Provisions in the 2016-17 General Appropriations Act 

Health insurance and health data sells for 60 to 70 times what social security numbers sell for on the black market.

IT Portal Pro  | Why your medical information is gold for hackers

• State Attorney Generals oppose federal control over health care data security and data privacy
• States are better equipped to make fast changes in the data driven economy
• Breaches that are small and localized are better handled by local authorities and not the federal government

Health IT Security | Are State Health Data Breach Notification Laws Needed?

What state recently enacted new telemedicine laws? Washington State

What data security elements were included in the Washington State legislation? 

• Establishes best practices that complies with ““generally accepted health care practices and standards.” 
  • Boils down to HIPAA and the HITECH Act & existing state law
• Establishes a technology standard of ““the standards required by state and federal laws governing the privacy and security of protected health information.”
• Allows Health Plans to deny coverage if these standards are not met

WA SB 6519

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP | M.D. Phone Home: New Legislation Expands Telemedicine in Washington

Hacking incidents by industry:

• 23% of data breaches occured in healthcare
• 18% of data breaches occured in financial services
• 16% of data breaches occured in education

34% of healthcare data breaches are caused by employee error

The average notification timeline after a breach:

• 69 days to detect the incident
• 7 days to contain it
• 43 days to analyze what happened
• 40 days to notify potentially affected individuals

Health IT Security | Healthcare Data Breaches Most Common in 2015 Incidents

Which state is making a new move to protect student data? Colorado

What does it mean for education contractors? New Rules. New Data Security Requirements.

3 Key prohibitions in the bill:

• prohibit education contractors from selling personally identifiable student information
• prohibit use of student information for targeted advertising to students
• Prohibitions follow to the subcontractors
• Establishes data security protocols tied to education contractors

CO HB 16-1423

Chalkbeat Colorado | Colorado lawmakers try again to tighten protection of student data

Which state updated its data breach law in March to shorten the time line for notification? Tennessee

How long do Tennessee businesses with data breaches have for notification? 14 days from discovery or notification of the breach

Is there an exception to the 14 days? yes, a legitimate law enforcement need

Did Tennessee also expand what triggers a notification? Yes

What new event triggers a notification? When the breach is caused by your own employee

TN SB 2005

JD Supra | Alston & Bird | Tennessee Updates Data Breach Statute to Require Notice in 14 Days

Which state passed new data security laws in 2016? Wyoming

Were the new laws the result of a breach or a legislative mandate? The result of a 2 year,  4-member Joint Task Force on Digital Information Privacy

What are agencies asked to do?  2 tasks

• Agencies must review their data collection, handling, security and management.
• Agencies must assess their stored data and explain why it collected it; and whether it really still needs to be stored

Where does procurement come into play? To fix and protect the data in perpetuity as state and local governmental entities determine industry best practices. Any wagers on whether government currently implements best practices protect data?

Wyoming SF 38 

Wyoming Tribune Eagle | Law requires state agencies take 2nd look at data security

Wyoming Business Report 

What entity released guidelines on teleworking and cyber security? The National Institute of Standards and Technology

What suggestions in the guidelines that will direct procurement opportunities?

• virtual mobile infrastructure technologies

  • that create temporary, secure environments for teleworkers who need to access organizational data that are destroyed when the session is over

• mobile device management technology
  • technology to force devices to adhere to certain security standards before granting them access to sensitive data

Fed Scoop | NIST issues draft cybersecurity guidelines for teleworking

• Methodist Hospital in Kentucky was hit by ransomeware
• The ransomeware, of the “Locky” strain,  encrypted, deleted original files  and is holding hostage all its data for $1,600, or 4 bitcoins
• Hospital paperwork is being processed by hand

Krebs on Security | Hospital Declares ‘Internal State of Emergency’ After Ransomware Infection

Governing | Hackers Target Hospitals for Ransom

• Cyber security is a dynamic problem
• Flexible solutions include cyber insurance
• Cyber Insurance is in a nascent market stage 
• Cyber Insurance can mitigate risk and help consumers see their cyber exposure

KOAM 7 | AIA Statement on House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on the Role of Cyber Insurance

Why are wireless mice vulnerable to hacking? Unencrypted communication with computers is what guide the mice.

What does that mean? For $20, someone a block away can trick your computer into using its mouse and steal your data.

Why would regulators care? Because regulators stress encryption in data security. 

Reuters | Wireless mice leave billions at risk of computer hack: cyber security firm

What entities are the new targets for data security enforcement? HIPPA adjacent health and wellness companies. 

Why are HIPPA adjacent health and wellness companies the focus of regulators? These companies collect and store personal health information. For example:

• Fitbit & health apps. That data from your fitbit gets stored somewhere and if it was collected and stored by a health care provider, it would be protected information. 
• Medical billing companies
• Medical Transcription Services.

What kind of enforcement actions are being considered for this health care app data? Regulators are looking for reasonable & appropriate data storage and data security protection. 

Health Data Management | FTC steps up protection of consumer health data

The U.S. Justice Department arrested invididuals that attempted to break into a small dam to disrupt operations. The informed intel:

• 1st time someone has been charged with disrupting, or attempting to disrupt, critical U.S. infrstructure. 
• The charges are” cyber myham” to disrupt the water infrastructure. 

Washington Post | U.S. charges Iran-linked hackers with targeting banks, N.Y. dam 

• Gain legitimacy as mode of information providers & conduits
• More than 1/2 of the debates have been co-sponsored by tech companies
• Gaining traction as a baramoter for public mood via:
  • YouTube debate questions
  • Google analytics use in debate questions
  • Twitter posts utilized in debate questions
• They host spin rooms, debate lounges to discuss candidates
• Develop campaign technology
• Advertising mediums

The Hill | Tech’s Big Play in 2016

What happened that led to a lawsuit? A health care network experienced a data breach, followed its internal protocols to handle the data breach.

What did the plaintiff’s allege that the health care network didn’t do that caused them harm? health network had violated the HITECH Act in protecting personal health information

What did the courts say? “There is no case law that suggests that an isolated privacy breach or discrete series of related breaches constitute a violation of the HITECH Act,” states the district court opinion. “Moreover, the Relator fails to allege that KHN failed to implement policies and procedures to address various security risks.”

What’s the take away? When a health care provider follows data breach protocols to protect health records, following those steps shows protections for health records.

Health IT Security | US Appeals Court Affirms FCA Healthcare Data Breach Case

What happened on University of California campuses to cause a UC hacker policy? In 2015 Hackers Broke into the UCLA Medical Center.

In response to the hack what policy did UC officials enact? UC installed data monitors that stores internet traffic on campuses for 30 days

Do faculty like this idea? No, UC has a policy dating back to the 1930s that providers for collaborative policy making in conjunction with faculty input. It’s all very Californian.

Did UC create a greater data security risk? Some say yes, because capturing and storing 30 days of university internet traffic is a treasure trove of data for hackers

Which UC official decided to install data collection monitors? Janet Napolitano, the university president and a former secretary of homeland security in the Obama administration

NPR | All Things Considered | At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity

Who is touting new legislative approach to cyberstalking? Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.)

What does her bill do? 

• make it easier for law enforcement to arrest cyberstalkers 
• create a $20 million grant to aid local and state law enforcement
• Create a national resource center for research & technical information for law enforcement officers and prosecutors.

SC Magazine | SXSW: Dem. lawmaker plans to introduce online harassment legislation

BuxxFeed | Congresswoman Unveils Plans To Prosecute Severe Online Threats Against Women

Data security of self-driving cars spurs calls for uniform data security standards for self-driving cars.

Have there been a push for self driving car regulations or statutes in Texas ? Yes, why yes, there has. 84R HB 933

Did those pushes include data security issues? No.

The Hill | Lawmakers worry about cyberattacks on self-driving cars

• Spanish hackers discovered that devices that make logisitics companies more efficient are subject to being controlled by hackers
• Companies use “telematics gateway units” or TGUs, small radio-enabled devices attached to industrial vehicles’ networks to track their location, gas mileage and other data“
• The ability to locate large vehicles and ambulences creates public safety concerns

Wired | Thousands of Trucks, Buses, and Ambulances May Be Open to Hackers