When the internet first came under the spotlight, Serwin foresaw a field of opportunity apart from the mainstream focus.
"It started with everyone being focused on content," Serwin said. "Copyright doesn't end at www." He said he recognized the future need for cybersecurity by looking past expanding consumer content on the internet and noticing the potentially harmful implications of sharing personal information online.
With that foresight, Serwin wrote a collection of books on cybersecurity for state and federal, international and health care matters.
He began writing in 2004 and was published in 2005. The 6,000-page, three-volume collection are now in its 10th edition. Serwin said the experience has been rewarding, with being cited in a few circuit courts, but the work was time-consuming.
"2005 to 2012 was a blur," Serwin said. "I would get up really early, write before work and work a full day, then I'd come home and write before bed. Part of it was that there was a ton of laws getting passed.
"I was having to add all these new laws," he said. "Genetic privacy — 37 states that have those. I was playing catch-up, getting the law added plus all the cases that matter. It's much more manageable now."
Representation of his clients involves every aspect of a breach, from advising on consumer and state notices to defending the companies in class action litigation related to their incidents. He has represented companies such as Target Corp. and Anthem Health Inc. through their security breaches.
"I try to write in a way so a layperson can understand it, whether it's a jury or a judge who may not understand the tech as much; I'm a big fan of using physical analogies," Serwin said. "It's an amorphous thing to talk about security matters ...It's easier to say, 'I've come on your land to retrieve my property.' You can't do that."
Now, Serwin is focused on where cyber law is going. He serves as chairman of The National Cyber-Forensics & Training Alliance, which deals with threat mitigation. They recently opened a Los Angeles branch and will soon open one in New York. He said he wants clients to be ready for what comes.
"I think where I provide most value at this point is working more on the threat mitigation side," Serwin said. "It's getting companies to think differently about the issue. I want to help them see what they need to do and why they need to it."
— Renee Flannery
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