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A recent settlement with an education service provider and three states – California, Connecticut, and New York – serves as a reminder to deactivate the credentials of departed employees. The case arose following a data breach suffered by Illuminate Education, which provides assessment software to K-12 school systems. As part of its services, the company stores sensitive details like students’ special education and accommodation needs.Continue Reading The Ghost of Employees Past: The Data Breach Risks from User-Credential Management

California recently passed an amendment accelerating how quickly businesses must notify following a data breach. Previously, the requirement was to notify affected individuals “without unreasonable delay.” Beginning January 1, 2026, the law mandates that businesses notify individuals within 30 calendar days after the discovery or notification of a breach. (New York also shortened its reporting this earlier this year). While some flexibility remains for law enforcement needs or to fully investigate the incident and restore data systems, this change places a clear emphasis on prompt action and accountability. Businesses in California will also face a new requirement when a data breach impacts over 500 residents. The law also calls for a copy of the notice sent to consumers to be submitted to the California Attorney General within 15 days of notifying individuals. Previously, there were no specific deadlines for sending a copy of the notice to the AG office.Continue Reading 2026 Data Breach Law Updates – California and Oklahoma

We are in the final quarter of the year, which is typically budgeting and planning for many issues, including -hopefully!- data incident preparedness. Is your organization able to take advantage of one of the growing number of states’ safe harbor provisions? In particular, Connecticut, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma (beginning January 1, 2026), Oregon, – as of September 2025 Texas (for entities with less than 250 employees) – and Utah provide certain affirmative defenses against claims resulting from data breaches. The safe harbor is available if the company has a “qualified” cybersecurity program. What that means varies by state. Continue Reading Incident Response Defenses: Can You Take Advantage of a Cyber Program Safe Harbor?

The New York Attorney General recently entered into an assurance of discontinuance with Root Insurance Company following a 2021 data incident. According to the AG, the threat actors obtained people’s drivers’ license numbers by exploiting a website error on its car insurance application portal. Namely, upon entering a publicly available name and address, the site would generate a prefilled PDF that included that person’s drivers’ license number, which numbers were pulled from third-party databases. Threat actors used an automated bot to exploit this vulnerability, and gathered drivers’ license numbers of 44,449 New Yorkers (more than half of the total 72,852 people impacted). The threat actors then used many of these people’s information to file fake unemployment claims with New York, which according to the AG, was the goal of the attack.Continue Reading Auto Insurer Settles With New York AG Over Insurance Application Platform Security Issues

As 2024 came to a close, New York Gov. Hochul signed two bills (A8872A and S2376B) amending New York’s data breach law. The modifications change both what constitutes personal information under the law, as well as modifying notification timing. The notice modification is now in effect; the change to the definition of personal information does not take effect until March 21, 2025.Continue Reading New York Modifies Data Breach Law Heading Into 2025

The New York Attorney General’s Office recently settled with Albany ENT & Allergy Services over claims that the healthcare provider failed to protect over 200,000 consumers’ private health information. The claims stem from two ransomware attacks in 2023. The AG argued that the company had violated New York’s data security law, resulting in the incident. As part of the settlement, Albany ENT agreed to pay $2.75 million in civil penalties and to implement additional security measures.Continue Reading New York AG Settles EnforcemENT Action with ENT

Pennsylvania AG Michelle Henry announced yesterday the launch of an online portal for businesses to report data breaches to the AG’s office. The portal launch comes before Pennsylvania’s new breach amendments take effect on September 26, 2024. One of the amendments will require businesses to report to the AG Office any breach that impacts more than 500 Pennsylvania residents. Businesses can provide notice to the AG using the new online portal. The law also includes specific reporting content; this content is built into the online portal. The AG’s website provides step-by-step instructions for submission.Continue Reading New Data Breach Notification Obligations for PA – and a New Reporting Portal

Verkada, a manufacturer and retailer of security cameras, has settled FTC accusations of lax security measures. The company sells its products to businesses, including schools and medical facilities. It markets its products as “plug and play:” the cameras connect to the cloud and allow customers’ remote access into both live and archived video footage. Among other features, the cameras have a “people analytics” tool that lets users “search images through facial recognition or face-matching technology.” A review of the settlement raises many reminders for companies about (1) security claims in privacy policies and marketing, (2) remediation concerns following a breach, (3) adherence to the Privacy Shield, and (4) a reminder about related (and often overlooked) laws like CAN-SPAM.Continue Reading Camera Company Will Pay $2.95 Million to Settle Security Claims

The SEC recently issued an order and settlement against a company from a pair of cyberattacks in which millions of dollars of client funds were stolen. While the company was able to recover a portion of the funds and ultimately reimbursed clients for the money lost, the SEC still fined the company $850,000 for failure to provide the necessary safeguards to protect its clients’ funds.Continue Reading SEC Continues its Cybersecurity Focus, Settles with Company over Lax Security Measures

A biotech company recently settled with three AGs over allegations that it had failed to protect consumer information. According to the AGs of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, this led to a 2023 data incident. The company, Enzo Biochem, agreed to pay a $4.5 million civil penalty and take several steps to modify its information security program.Continue Reading Biotech Company Settles with Three State AGs Over Security Practices

TracFone, the pre-paid phone company, recently settled with the FCC over allegations that the company failed to protect customer information during three different data incidents. According to the FCC, in each of the incidents, threat actors gained access to customer information, including names, addresses, and features to which customers had subscribed. The threat actors were able to gain access by exploiting vulnerabilities in the customer-facing application programming interfaces or APIs.Continue Reading Ring, Ring, it’s the FCC Calling- TracFone to Pay $16M to Settle FCC Investigation