Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On November 16, 2016, the UK Investigatory Powers Bill (the “Bill”) was approved by the UK House of Lords. Following ratification of the Bill by Royal Assent, which is expected before the end of 2016, the Bill will officially become law in the UK. The draft of the Bill has sparked controversy, as it will hand significant and wide-ranging powers to state surveillance agencies, and has been strongly criticized by some privacy and human rights advocacy groups. 

On November 14, 2016, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) published guidance on cybersecurity for internet-connected devices, Systems Security Engineering: Considerations for A Multidisciplinary Approach in the Engineering of Trustworthy Secure Systems (the “Guidance”). Citing “the continuing frequency, intensity, and adverse consequences of cyber-attacks,” the Guidance “addresses the engineering-driven perspective and actions necessary to develop more defensible and survivable systems.”

This post has been updated. 

On November 10, 2016, the Court of Appeal for Moscow’s Taginsky District upheld an August 2016 decision by the district’s lower court that LinkedIn had violated Russian data protection laws. Access to the professional networking site is now set to be blocked across Russia.

On November 7, 2016, Adobe Systems Inc. (“Adobe”) entered into an assurance of voluntary compliance (“AVC”) with 15 state attorneys general to settle allegations that the company lacked proper measures to protect its systems from a 2013 cyber attack that resulted in the theft of the personal information of millions of customers. Under the terms of the AVC, Adobe must pay $1 million to the attorneys general and implement new data security policies and practices.

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Hunton & Williams LLP is proud to announce our Privacy & Information Security Law Blog has been nominated in The Expert Institute’s 2016 Best Legal Blog Contest for Best AmLaw Blog of 2016. From all of the editors, lawyers and contributors that make our blog a success, we appreciate your continued support and readership, and ask that you please take a moment to vote for our blog!

The Privacy & Information Security Law Blog was ranked as the #1 Privacy & Data Security blog in LexBlog’s 2015 AmLaw 200 Blog Benchmark Report, and named PR News’ Best Legal PR Blog ...

As reported on the Insurance Recovery blog, earlier this week, retailer Tesco Plc’s (“Tesco”) banking branch reported that £2.5 million (approximately $3 million) had been stolen from 9,000 customer bank accounts over the weekend in what cyber experts said was the first mass hacking of accounts at a western bank. The reported loss still is being investigated by UK authorities, but is believed to have occurred through the bank’s online banking system. The loss, which is about half of what Tesco initially estimated, is still substantial and serves as a strong reminder that ...

On November 9, 2016, the Centre for Information Policy Leadership (“CIPL”) at Hunton & Williams LLP and AvePoint released the results of a joint global survey launched in May 2016 concerning organizational preparedness for implementing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The GDPR replaces Directive 95/46/EC and will become applicable in May 2018.

On October 25, 2016, the United States Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an advisory entitled Advisory to Financial Institutions on Cyber-Events and Cyber-Enabled Crime (the “Advisory”), to help financial institutions understand how to fulfill their Bank Secrecy Act obligations with regard to cyber events and cyber-enabled crime. The Advisory indicates that SAR reporting is mandatory for cyber events where the financial institution “knows, suspects or has reason to suspect a cyber-event was intended, in whole or in part, to conduct, facilitate, or affect a transaction or a series of transactions….” Implementing this new guidance will require increased collaboration between AML and cybersecurity or IT departments in large institutions, and may create challenges for smaller banks that are more likely to outsource their cybersecurity functions.

Join us at the International Association of Privacy Professionals (“IAPP”) Data Protection Congress in Brussels, November 9-10, 2016.

On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China enacted the final Cybersecurity Law after it held its third reading of the draft Cybersecurity Law on October 31, 2016. The first draft of the Cybersecurity Law was published for comment more than a year ago, followed by the second draft in July this year. The final Cybersecurity Law will apply from June 1, 2017.