Regulators provided key insights into enforcement trends and potential changes to HIPAA regulations at the 11th Annual “Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance Through HIPAA Security” conference in October co-hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Tag Archives: data security risk assessment
Hogan Lovells Expands Cybersecurity Practice; Launches Cyber Risk Services
Anyone reading this blog already knows that cybersecurity is a team sport. No longer does the IT security department bear sole responsibility for protecting a company’s data and systems. Today companies are setting up enterprise-wide councils to oversee cybersecurity that include lawyers, risk managers, technical professionals, and other leaders. And if a breach occurs, that […]
Hogan Lovells Article on the Legal Framework Regulating Commercial Data Security in the Maryland Bar Journal
The Evolving Legal Framework Regulating Commercial Data Security Standards, an article by Hogan Lovells associate Bret Cohen, was featured in the January/February 2014 cybersecurity law issue of the Maryland Bar Journal. The article covers the sources of regulation and potential legal liability in the U.S. for businesses who experience data security breaches, including general consumer protection laws, state data security laws, federal sectoral laws, and consumer class action litigation.
House Passes Comprehensive Data Security Legislation
On December 8, the House of Representatives by voice vote passed H.R. 2221, entitled the “Data Accountability and Trust Act,” which would require all organizations engaged in interstate commerce that manage or contract another to manage electronic data containing personal information to comply with a comprehensive set of standards designed to protect that information from unnecessary disclosure and to prevent identity theft and other fraud. Th eBill now heads to the Senate where passage this year is unlikely, but where consideration next year is expected.
Senate Committee Approves Data Security Bills Creating Federal Data Security Program, Breach Notification Requirements: Criminal and Civil Penalties Give Proposed Law Real Teeth
On November 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed two bills that collectively would preempt a large swath of the patchwork quilt of state data security and breach notification laws that largely comprise the U.S. regulatory landscape today. While imminent passage is not expected, the prospects for a federal law are gaining momentum. Especially noteworthy are the criminal and civil penalties being proposed for companies that fail to properly deal with a data security breach.