The phrase “cyber attack” elicits thoughts of a compromised information system, a crashed computer network, or inappropriate access to sensitive electronic information. It doesn’t usually conjure up images of machinery setting on fire, and smoke emerging from a factory. Nevertheless, here is a video of an experimental cyber attack named Aurora, which took place on… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Data Breach
Subscribe to Data Breach RSS FeedData Breach Lawsuits – Revisiting the Risks
Posted in Data Breach, Data Breach, Data Privacy, Data Security, LawsuitsUntil recently, individuals whose information was compromised as a result of a company suffering a data breach faced an uphill battle when suing the company in a class action lawsuit. Far more often than not, Courts dismissed the lawsuits or entered summary judgment in favor of defendants on grounds that the plaintiffs could not establish… Continue Reading
New U.S. Supreme Court Decision Will Likely Impact Data Breach Litigation
Posted in Data Breach, Data Security, LawsuitsThe following Data Security Law Journal post was authored by Becky Schwartz, my law partner at Shook Hardy & Bacon. Becky is an experienced class action litigator who has developed a specialty in privacy litigation. In this post, Becky discusses a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that may make it more difficult for consumers to… Continue Reading
The Southern District of Florida Weighs In On Data Breach Lawsuits
Posted in Data Breach, Data Security, LawsuitsLate last week, another Federal District Court (the Southern District of Florida) weighed in on the circumstances under which a plaintiff may sue a breached entity civilly for damages when the plaintiff’s personally identifiable information (PII) is inappropriately accessed or acquired. The Court allowed the case to proceed with counts for violation of Florida’s Unfair… Continue Reading
Private Lawsuits Arising From Data Breaches – The Eleventh Circuit Weighs In
Posted in Data Breach, Data Security, Health Care Industry, LawsuitsLast week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided Resnick v. AvMed, Inc., No. 11-13694 (11th Cir. Sep. 5, 2012). The Court’s opinion addresses some important issues regarding an individual’s right to bring a private lawsuit when her personally identifiable information or protected health information is compromised. In its decision, the… Continue Reading
LinkedIn Sued Over Data Breach
Posted in Data Breach, Data Security, LawsuitsWell THAT didn’t take long! Less than 10 days after LinkedIn announced that it suffered a data breach of approximately 6.5 million user passwords, a class action lawsuit was filed against it in California federal court seeking in excess of $5 million. The lawsuit alleges that, contrary to its Privacy Policy, LinkedIn failed to comply… Continue Reading
Federal Data Breach Notification Laws
Posted in Data Breach, Data Breach, Data SecurityThe title of this blog entry is somewhat of a misnomer because there is no single national data breach notification law that governs all information the same way as the state data breach notification laws do. So, for the time being, companies and consumers are forced to determine which state data breach notification laws apply… Continue Reading
State Data Breach Notification Laws
Posted in Data Breach, Data Breach, Data SecurityIn 2005, a company called ChoicePoint, which collected personal and financial information for millions of consumers, was the victim of a security breach. Criminals stole from ChoicePoint personal information for more than 145,000 individuals. The floodgates opened and a variety of other corporations and organizations revealed similar data breaches that had resulted in unauthorized access… Continue Reading
Video Interview: Discussing the Global Payments Inc. Data Breach with LXBN TV
Posted in Data Breach, Data Breach, Data SecurityYesterday I had the opportunity to speak with Colin O’Keefe of LXBN TV regarding the recent major data breach involving Global Payments Inc. In the interview, I explain the background of the breach, which impacted all major credit cards, the lessons companies can learn from the breach and exactly who bears the burden—financially and otherwise—of… Continue Reading
Hacking the “Middle Man”
Posted in Data Breach, Data Breach, Data SecurityAnother massive high profile data breach was in the news this past week. MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover, as well as other banks and franchises were affected. Significantly, the breadth of the effect was not a result of separate attacks against each bank, but rather a hacking of one common third-party service provider—Global Payments… Continue Reading
Private Civil Lawsuits Arising From Data Breaches
Posted in Data Breach, Data Breach, Data SecurityThe U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently weighed in on the causes of action and damages that are (and are not) cognizable in a data breach case. In Anderson v. Hannaford Bros. Co., No 10-2384 (1st Cir. Oct. 20, 2011), the plaintiffs were customers of a grocery store chain. The grocery… Continue Reading
Data Breach — What’s the Harm??
Posted in Data BreachA data breach can result in the exposure of private customer information (credit card information, social security numbers, email addresses, etc.) to unknown third parties who may fraudulently use that information. In instances where the information is used fraudulently, the customer suffers a harm that can usually be quantified or measured in some way. But… Continue Reading
Why Should You Care About Data Breaches?
Posted in Data BreachSome of the most alarming statistics concerning data breaches relate to how frequently they occur, who is suffering them, and the cost such breaches impose on their victims. According to a recent survey of 583 IT practitioners (more than half of whom were employed by organizations with more than 5,000 employees), 90% of organizations had… Continue Reading
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