On March 9, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced that Blackbaud Inc. (“Blackbaud”) agreed to pay $3 million to settle charges for alleged misleading disclosures about its 2020 ransomware attack and for alleged disclosure control failures.1
Blackbaud, a South Carolina-based company that provides data management software to colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations,
The Biden administration released its National Cybersecurity Strategy (“Strategy”) on March 2, 2023.1 The Strategy builds on previous policy actions by the Biden administration that sought to strengthen cybersecurity in critical infrastructure and protect personal data, including through regulatory action, government procurement requirements, and an emphasis on software security. The Strategy calls for (1)
Software security is a critical issue for multinational businesses. Highlighted as a top priority by the Biden administration and other governments worldwide, software security is a central pillar of effective cybersecurity—and managing associated legal risk. But developing and maintaining secure software is challenging, including to the extent that companies manage complex software development lifecycles, face
On October 7, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities,1 which is intended to implement U.S. commitments under the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework (DPF) announced in March 2022. With the new executive order, the Biden administration aims to strengthen the legal foundation for trans-Atlantic
On September 14, 2022, the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a memorandum, M-22-18, requiring federal agencies to comply with previously announced guidelines for ensuring the integrity of third-party software on an agency’s information systems or that otherwise affects government information. Applicable to firmware, operating systems, applications, and application services (e.g., cloud-based
Software security is a critical issue for multinational businesses. Highlighted as a top priority by the Biden administration and other governments worldwide, software security is a central pillar of effective cybersecurity—and managing associated legal risk. But developing and maintaining secure software is challenging, including to the extent that companies manage complex software development lifecycles, face
Strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity has been a top priority for the Biden administration, as reflected in its collaboration with industry, regulatory actions, and the legislation it has supported in Congress, including the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022. Executive action has been a key tool in the Biden administration’s cyber policymaking toolkit.
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022, H.R. 2471. Division Y of this omnibus appropriations legislation—the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022—will create significant new rules requiring US critical infrastructure entities to report cybersecurity incidents and ransom payments to the US government. This legislation marks
Mayer Brown partners Christian Fabian, Stephen Lilley and Lei Shen, located in the United States, focus on data privacy and cybersecurity issues in M&A transactions.
After months of diplomatic engagement, the early morning of February 24, 2022 saw what President Biden called an “unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces” on Ukraine. Numerous news reports also have described significant cyber attacks against Ukrainian systems. According to those reports, these attacks follow multiple waves of cyber attacks in the past