Federal attorneys and former FBI chief consider cybersecurity issues at CLS discussion

Last holiday season, 40 million Target customers had their credit card details compromised in a massive hacking attack, which led to the CEO's resignation several months later. Cybersecurity is no longer the purview of the IT department but a c-suite corporate concern. US companies spend an average of $12.7 million annually on cyber concerns. It’s a fight against a slippery, globalized enemy. According to the New York Times, over the last 12 years, there has been “more than a 10,000-fold increase in the number of new digital threats.”

Robert Mueller, left, and Patrick Fitzgerald

On December 4, the Center on Law and Security (CLS) convened “Cyber Ethics: Emerging Issues & Evolving Laws,” with experts including Patrick Fitzgerald, a partner at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and former US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Judith Germano, a senior fellow at CLS and former chief of economic crimes at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey; and Robert Mueller III, a partner at WilmerHale and former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mark Filip, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis and former Deputy Attorney General of the United States, moderated. They discussed the gray areas of cybersecurity, including debates over company disclosure of breaches, information-sharing between the private and public sectors, employee-monitoring, and defense measures.

Posted December 9, 2014

Watch the Cyber Ethics panel below (1 hr, 12 min):