Responding to Cybersecurity Breaches

Everyone agrees it is a matter of "when," not "if:" Your clients will be the target of cyberattacks, sometimes from sophisticated nation state actors. The legal response in the first hours, days and weeks after an attack can set your client on a path to recovery or put it deeper into legal jeopardy. To pay or not to pay ransomware, to notify customers or not, to reach out proactively or not to law enforcement and regulators.

These are among the legal and strategic questions lawyers must face in a rapidly shifting legal landscape, with the risks highlighted by the recent criminal conviction of one company's chief information security officer for allegedly withholding information from the government. Our panelists will draw upon their deep and broad experience to share insights and legal updates from litigation, counseling, law enforcement, and regulatory perspectives.

MCLE credit available ($36)

The event will take place on January 25 from 12-1pm PST. Register for the event here.

Moderator

Jim Dempsey

Jim Dempsey is a lecturer at UC Berkeley School of Law, where he teaches a course on cybersecurity law, and Senior Policy Advisor to the Program on Geopolitics, Technology and Governance at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center. Prior experience includes serving as executive director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and as a Senate-confirmed member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. He is the author of Cybersecurity Law Fundamentals, a handbook for practitioners, and writes on cybersecurity policy issues for Lawfareblog.com and for the website of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Panelists

Beth George

Beth George is a partner in the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she leads the firm's cybersecurity team, including providing advice on legal challenges faced by companies when preparing for and responding to cybersecurity breaches. In 2021, Beth briefly left the firm to serve as the Acting General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense during the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration. She serves as a senior adjunct fellow for the New York University School of Law's Center for Law and Security and as an affiliate at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).

Michelle Kane

Michelle J. Kane is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of California and a member of the U.S. Attorney's Office's Special Prosecutions and National Security Section. Ms. Kane was a Trial Attorney in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) at the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division where she prosecuted multi-district and international cases and served as the U.S. representative to the Organization of American States Working Group on Cybercrime and the Vice Chair of the G8 Transnational Organized Crime Subgroup on High Tech Crime.

John Vogt

John Vogt has received the cybersecurity Trailblazers award from The National Law Journal and, for multiple years in a row, the Los Angeles Daily Journal has recognized John as one of the top cybersecurity lawyers in California. He has represented clients facing class action risk under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), state and federal wiretap laws, and the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA). Mr. Vogt also advises clients on their data privacy obligations, including under the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

Lindsey Tonsager

Lindsey Tonsager is co-chair of Covington & Burling's global Privacy and Cybersecurity practice and helps some of the world's most recognizable brands navigate complex issues arising from international, federal and state data privacy and cybersecurity laws.