On September 13, 2016, the New York State Department of Financial Services ("DFS") proposed new cybersecurity regulations for financial services companies.
Client Alert | September 19, 2016
On July 6, 2016, the European Parliament officially adopted the Network and Information Security (NIS) Directive which is expected to fully enter into force in May 2018.
Client Alert | July 22, 2016
Los Angeles partner Theane Evangelis, and associates Daniel Adler and Lauren Blas are the authors of "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Future of Class Action Waivers" [PDF] published on July 8, 2016 by Bloomberg BNA's Class Action Litigation Report.
Article | July 7, 2016
Orange County and Palo Alto partner Joshua Jessen, and Palo Alto associate Priyanka Rajagopalan are the authors of "Teaching an Old Law New Tricks: The 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act in the Modern Era" [PDF] published on July 4, 2016 by Bloomberg BNA's Privacy & Security Law Report.
Article | July 4, 2016
Los Angeles of counsel Eric D. Vandevelde and Orange County associate Jared Greenberg are the authors of "Drone Privacy: Voluntary Best Practices Released by Multi-Stakeholder Group" [PDF] published in the June 13, 2016 issue of the Privacy and Security Law Report.
Article | June 13, 2016
Munich partner Michael Walther and of counsel Kai Gesing are the authors of "The EU-US Privacy Shield" [PDF] published in issue No. 2 of the online magazine Business Law Magazine on June 9, 2016.
Article | June 9, 2016
Denver of counsel Richard Cunningham and associate Timothy Zimmerman are the authors of "FTC Targets 'Native' Advertising" [PDF] published on May 30, 2016 by Law Week Colorado.
Article | May 30, 2016
Munich partner Mark Zimmer is co-author of "Tests mit Tuecke – Arbeitsrechtliche Anforderungen an Social Engineering Tests” [PDF] published in the May 23, 2016 issue of the German publication Betriebs-Berater.
Article | May 23, 2016
On May 16, 2016, the Supreme Court issued Spokeo, Inc.
Client Alert | May 17, 2016
Orange County and Palo Alto partner Joshua Jessen and Palo Alto associate Priyanka Rajagopalan are the authors of "1st Circ. Video Privacy Decision Creates Split With 11th Circ." [PDF] published on May 13, 2016 by Law360.
Article | May 13, 2016
On May 11, 2016, in a rare display of bi-partisan unity, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 ("DTSA"), after the House of Representatives approved the bill by a vote of 410-2 and the Senate approved it unanimously.
Client Alert | May 11, 2016
The rise of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement efforts, the expansion in the scope of industries targeted and the level of penalties imposed, and the targeting of financial products that the CFPB has deemed cybersecurity risks—these are just some of the expansive array of challenges the CFPB raises for compliance professionals and in-house litigation counsel.
Webcasts | April 21, 2016
Orange County associate Jared Greenberg is the author of "Sensible Regulations Encourage Drone Use" [PDF} published on April 11, 2016 by The Daily Journal.
Article | April 11, 2016
The use of native advertising--paid advertising that is integrated into the media in which it appears--is exploding. Native advertisements commonly appear online, but can be found in almost any form of communication, including radio, television, and print, among other media.
Client Alert | March 30, 2016
France is on the verge of adopting a new "bill for a Digital Republic" which will significantly impact the French digital economy. Foreign service providers directing their services to French consumers will also likely be impacted. The bill aims at strengthening consumer confidence in the internet. It is meant also to increase competition between service providers by lowering entry barriers.The upcoming reform goes well beyond existing and forthcoming EU legislation. It significantly expands consumers' right to data portability; it imposes stringent disclosure duties on online referring/ranking platforms as well as on websites collecting or disseminating consumers' opinions. Now that the bill has been adopted by the French National Assembly, it
Client Alert | March 29, 2016
Orange County associate Jared Greenberg is the author of "Commercial Drone Industry May Be Ready For Takeoff Soon" [PDF] published on February 18, 2016 by Law360.
Article | February 18, 2016
We wish everyone an auspicious Data Privacy Day. Observed annually on January 28, Data Privacy Day constitutes an international effort to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices.
Client Alert | January 28, 2016
The rise of international enforcement efforts and sanctions, the intensifying impact of cyber breaches, the evolution of shareholder activism, and the growing complexity of regulatory requirements are all examples of the expansive array of challenges facing today's compliance professionals.
Webcasts | January 20, 2016
Over the last two years, the FBI has reported close to 10,000 businesses victimized by a particular form of online fraud referred to as a business email compromise scam or BEC scam, which typically involves the fraudulent transfer of funds from the company to accounts in Hong Kong and mainland China. According to the FBI, more than 8,000 businesses fell victim to business email compromise scams and suffered a combined loss of more than $1.2 billion. Since January 2015 there has been a 270 percent increase in the number of victims falling victim to BEC scams and a similar increase in the total amount of loss they suffered. The FBI reported that in the majority of BEC scams the funds are transferred to bank accounts in Hong Kong or mainland China.
Article | January 12, 2016
By the end of 2015, Germany has provided shelter to more than one million refugees that entered the country in the past twelve months, many without any documents of identification or even totally unregistered in some cases.
Client Alert | January 8, 2016
Denver of counsels Richard H. Cunningham and Ryan T. Bergsieker and associate Reid Rector are the authors of "Making Sense of a Morass: An Overview of the Different Standards U.S.
Article | November 23, 2015
Denver associate Timothy Zimmerman is the author of "U.S. Supreme Court Hears Argument in Big Data Case with Far-Reaching Implications" [PDF] published on November 9, 2015 by Law Week Colorado.
Article | November 9, 2015
Last week Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez opened the agency's "Start with Security" conference series by describing three aspects of the agency's approach to assessing companies' data security practices. Chairwoman Ramirez highlighted that companies should (1) consider security when designing new products and services; (2) test their systems for security vulnerabilities; and (3) implement robust processes for reviewing, addressing, and internally escalating security-related red flags. Chairwoman Ramirez's comments provide further information regarding the data security practices the FTC views as "reasonable"--that is, the practices the FTC views as passing muster under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which forbids actions that a
Client Alert | September 15, 2015
The Federal Trade Commission's longstanding effort to establish itself as the primary federal regulator of cybersecurity survived its first appellate test on Monday when the Third Circuit allowed the FTC to continue pursuing its case against Wyndham Worldwide Corp. The FTC sued Wyndham after the hotelier suffered three data breaches that allegedly compromised the payment card information of more than 600,000 customers. The FTC alleged, among other things, that Wyndham's failure to use encryption, firewalls, and non-obvious passwords constituted an "unfair" practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The district court denied Wyndham's motion to dismiss the FTC's case, but allowed Wyndham to pursue an interlocutory appeal. A unanimous Third Circuit panel
Client Alert | August 27, 2015
San Francisco partners Thad Davis and Michael Li-Ming Wong and associate Nicola Paterson are the authors of “The Data Security Governance Conundrum: Practical Solutions and Best Practices for the Boardroom and the C-Suite” [PDF] published in Volume 2015 of the Columbia Business Law Review.
Article | July 21, 2015
Progress on Some Fronts, But Significant Dangers Remain, and New Dangers EmergeE-discovery remains an incredibly rich and rapidly developing field, as the many developments on which we report from just the first half of 2015 attest.
Client Alert | July 15, 2015
Washington, D.C. partner F. Joseph Warin and associates Oleh Vretsona and Lora MacDonald are the authors of "A Practical Guide to the Use of the Commissioned Public Report as an Effective Crisis-Management Tool" [PDF] published in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy, Volume 29, Issue 1.
Article | June 12, 2015
Seemingly every week a front page headline reports a cyber attack involving the theft of the personal or financial information of millions of consumers. Although companies that have suffered a data breach are victims of a crime, regulators and plaintiffs' attorneys may seek to hold such companies liable for "failing to lock the door" to adequately protect the stolen data. Gibson Dunn of counsel Ryan Bergsieker and Richard Cunningham and associate Lindsey Young are authors of the following article recently published by The Colorado Lawyer. They discuss the active and ongoing efforts by the Federal Trade Commission to hold companies responsible for sufficiently securing sensitive consumer data. The Federal Trade Commission's Enforcement of Data Security
Article | June 10, 2015
Gibson Dunn partners Judith Alison Lee, Arthur Long, and Alexander Southwell, of counsel Jeffrey Steiner, and associates Stephenie Gosnell Handler and Zachary Wood are authors of the attached article recently published by Law360. They discuss the hurdles and rigorous requirements created by the New York Department of Financial Services' recently released "BitLicense" regulation, the final version of its framework for regulating digital currency firms. BitLicense Regulations Create Groundbreaking Hurdles (click on link)Judith A.
Article | June 4, 2015
The last several months have demonstrated the continued growth, volatility and regulation of the virtual currency industry. A number of Wall Street institutions and established technology companies have made sizeable investments in virtual currencies and the underlying blockchain technology, and investors aren't the only ones who continue to be interested in the development of virtual currencies.
Client Alert | May 27, 2015
Gibson Dunn partners Palo Alto partner Dan Mummery, Dallas partner Karl Nelson and New York partner Alex Southwell are authors of "Privacy and Data Security in Outsourcing" [PDF].
Article | May 26, 2015
Gibson Dunn partners Judith Alison Lee, Alexander H. Southwell and Jose W. Fernandez and associates Stephenie Gosnell Handler and Eric B. Lorber are authors of the following article published by Law360. The team addresses an executive order recently signed by President Obama, "Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities," and the broad mandate it provides for the U.S.
Article | April 2, 2015
Gibson Dunn partner Alexander Southwell and associates Adam Chen and Stephenie Gosnell Handler* are authors of the following article published by Law360. They discuss a recent speech at Columbia Law School given by Superintendent Benjamin M.
Article | February 27, 2015
Concerns about cybersecurity and data privacy have exploded into the public consciousness in recent years, accompanied by a host of new and rapidly developing legal issues.
Client Alert | February 17, 2015
Gibson Dunn of counsel Angelique Kaounis is the author of the following article published by Law360, which discusses key points and takeaways from the recent White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection held at Stanford University. Presidential Summit Reveals Cybersecurity Concerns, Trends (click on title) Ms. Kaounis practices in the firm's Litigation Department, with a focus on intellectual property and technology-related issues, and currently serves as a Vice-Chair of the Trade Secrets Interest Group of the California State Bar's Intellectual Property Section. Contributors to the article include partner Alexander H.
Article | February 17, 2015
On February 4, 2015, the New York Department of Financial Services released revisions to its groundbreaking virtual currency regulatory framework commonly referred to as the "BitLicense."
Client Alert | February 11, 2015
Gibson Dunn partner Alexander Southwell, of counsel Angelique Kaounis, and associates Stephenie Gosnell Handler* and Zachary Wood are authors of the following article published by Law360. The team discusses the SEC's recent risk alert with summary observations of results from the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations' assessment of select regulated entities' cybersecurity efforts and outlines the internal compliance measures companies should consider implementing in accordance with the findings. SEC Cybersecurity Findings May Establish De Facto Standard (click on link) Mr.
Client Alert | February 6, 2015
On January 27, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") released a report on the "Internet of Things" ("IoT"), which refers to everyday objects that are connected to the Internet and send and receive data.
Client Alert | February 5, 2015
Washington, D.C. partner Judith Lee, New York partner Arthur S. Long, Los Angeles partner Marcellus McRae, Washington D.C. counsel Jeffrey L. Steiner and associate Stephenie Gosnell Handler are the authors of "Bitcoin Basics: a Primer on Virtual Currencies" [PDF] published in the January issue of the Business Law International.
Article | January 30, 2015
The Paris office of Gibson Dunn is pleased to provide this legal and regulatory update covering France for the second semester of 2014.
Client Alert | January 23, 2015
In our Mid-Year E-Discovery Update, we reported that 2014 was shaping up to be the "year of technology" in e-discovery. The remainder of the year more than lived up to those expectations.
Client Alert | January 20, 2015
Gibson Dunn partner Alexander Southwell, of counsel Eric Vandevelde and Ryan Bergsieker, and associates Stephenie Gosnell Handler* and Adam Chen are authors of the following article published in the January issue of Bloomberg BNA's World Data Protection Report. The team examines, from a legal perspective, President Obama's reinvigorated priorities in cybersecurity and data privacy following years of stalled efforts to pass legislation.
Client Alert | January 20, 2015
Los Angeles of counsel Eric D. Vandevelde is the author of "2014: the year of the 'mega breach'" [PDF] published in the January 16, 2014 issue of the Los Angeles Daily Journal.
Article | January 16, 2015
2014 saw a flurry of activity in response to an increase in threats to U.S. trade secrets. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate introduced bipartisan amendments to the EEA that would create a federal civil cause of action for the misappropriation of trade secrets. The Department of Justice secured the first-ever indictment against foreign government actors for trade secret theft and economic espionage, charging five officers of the Chinese military with engaging in a sophisticated cyber-hacking scheme to steal U.S.
Client Alert | January 13, 2015
The past year marked the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and probably the end of a European dream to continue to entertain smooth and peaceful cooperation with Russia.
Client Alert | January 9, 2015
The pace of regulation and enforcement actions relating to virtual currencies has continued to pick up during the fall of 2014.
Client Alert | January 5, 2015
Twenty months after proposing regulations to minimize incidents of disruptive trading and potentially catastrophic trading malfunctions, the SEC, on November 19, 2014, adopted Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity ("Regulation SCI") to enhance confidence in U.S.
Client Alert | November 25, 2014
In response to a string of publicly disclosed cyberattacks against financial institutions in recent months, New York and federal regulators are pushing the financial sector to better protect itself and, notably, are seeking additional information about banks' cybersecurity efforts. Benjamin Lawsky, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services ("DFS") has been at the forefront of this increased regulatory focus. New York StateOn October 21, 2014, Superintendent Lawsky reportedly sent a letter to dozens of banks that not only urges them to address the cybersecurity of their third-party service providers but also requests detailed information about their cybersecurity practices. Noting that "a firm's level of cybersecurity is only
Client Alert | October 27, 2014
On July 21, 2014, the New York Department of Financial Services ("NYDFS") released a groundbreaking virtual currency regulatory framework, becoming the first state to issue comprehensive rules tailored to virtual currency businesses. The proposed framework, which has become commonly known as the "BitLicense," was the long-anticipated product of nearly a year of public hearings and other inquiries. Initially slated for a 45-day public comment period, the comment period was recently extended to October 21, 2014. This client alert provides detailed information on the scope of the proposed regulation, and discusses potential implications for the virtual currency industry.What are Virtual Currencies?Virtual currencies are digital representations of val
Client Alert | September 10, 2014
Orange County partner Gareth Evans is the author of “Tools Let Attorneys Follow the Breadcrumbs” [PDF] published in the September 1, 2014 issue of National Law Journal.
Article | September 5, 2014