Month: October 2014

Lawyers Get Answers on Social Media Ethics

October 31, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Social Media

New guidance for lawyers on the ethics of social media use (Attorney At Work, 23 Oct 2014) – Do you need advice about the ethics issues involved in social networking? Chances are your questions will be answered by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s recent Formal Opinion 2014-300. The 18-page opinion addresses issues that are important for lawyers in every state. The Pennsylvania opinion rests on the premise that Rule 1.1 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct requires lawyers to have “a basic knowledge of how social media websites work,” as well as the ability to advise clients about the legal ramifications of using the sites. The Pennsylvania Bar Committee offers conclusions about 10 ethics issues involved in the use of social media for business purposes by lawyers and clients. Also, the committee emphasizes that lawyers should always assume their use of social media may be subject to the rules of professional conduct. The topics addressed in the opinion are well supported with rules and opinions from many states. The bar committee reached the following conclusions * * *

 

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USC, Condé Nast and WIRED Collaborate to Offer College Degree

October 27, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Education

USC, Condé Nast and WIRED launch master of integrated design, business and technology degree(USC, 1 Oct 2014) – The University of Southern California, Condé Nast and WIRED announced a partnership on Oct. 1, 2014, to create a new online master’s degree in Integrated Design, Business and Technology. The partnership creates an unprecedented learning experience, combining the expertise of the editors, writers, and designers at WIRED with the academic rigor of USC, a leading research university known for its pioneering interdisciplinary programs. The aim of the 18-24 month degree is to educate creative thinkers and technologists to better equip them to transform the world of industry and enterprise. The first cohort is scheduled to begin in the 2015-2016 academic year.

 

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Focus on Cyber Security is Top Priority for N.Y. Financial Regulator

October 14, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment All, Security

N.Y. financial regulator says to focus on cyber security (Reuters, 22 Sept 2014) – New York’s financial regulator said on Monday his agency will focus on cyber security over the next year, saying the possibility of a systemic attack to the financial system is one thing that keeps him awake at night. “It is impossible to take it seriously enough,” said Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) for the state of New York. Cyberterrorism is “the most significant issue DFS will work on in the next year,” he said, speaking at a Bloomberg Markets event at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in lower Manhattan. A report earlier this year by DFS on cyber security in the banking sector found that most institutions surveyed have come under cyber attack at some point in the past three years. The attacks came irrespective of the institutions’ sizes, highlighting how prevalent an issue hacking has become.

 

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International Standards Organization Sets New Cloud Privacy Standard

October 13, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Security

ISO’s new cloud privacy standard (Covington, 23 Sept 2014) – This summer, the International Standards Organization (ISO) adopted a new voluntary standard governing the processing of personal data in the cloud – ISO 27018. Although this recent development has gone mostly unnoticed by the technology and media press to date, the new cloud standard provides a useful privacy compliance framework for cloud services providers that addresses key processor (and some controller) obligations under EU data protection laws. ISO 27018 builds on existing information security standards, such as ISO 27001 and ISO 27002, which set out general information security principles (e.g., securing offices and facilities, media handling, human resources security, etc.). By contrast, ISO 27018 is tailored to cloud services specifically and is the first privacy-specific international standard for the cloud. ISO 27018 seeks to address such issues as keeping customer information confidential and secure and preventing personal information from being processed for secondary purposes (e.g., advertising or data analytics) without the customer’s approval. ISO 27018 also responds directly to EU regulators’ calls for the introduction of an auditable compliance framework for cloud processors to increase trust in the online environment (see the European Commission’s 2012 Cloud Strategy here ). More specifically, the standard requires cloud providers to, among other things: * * *

 

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N.Y. Court Okays Legal Document Service on Facebook, Sans Physical Address

October 10, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Justice

N.Y. court authorizes service of legal documents via Facebook, when the physical address of the recipient is unknown (Eugene Volokh, 19 Sept 2014) – From Noel B. v. Anna Maria A. (N.Y. Fam. Ct. Sept. 12, 2014): The instant decision is with respect to this court’s determination as to substituted service, specifically service by via the Facebook social networking service. The Petitioner filed the instant action seeking to modify the order of child support based on the alleged emancipation of the sole subject child. The Petitioner appeared today and stated the he was unable to effect service upon the Respondent. He presented an affidavit dated July 6, 2014, in which the affiant noted that the Respondent was unknown to the occupant of the Respondent’s last known address, who is described as a tenant of one month. The Petitioner then described under oath the other efforts he made to try and locate the Respondent to effectuate service. * * * While this court is not aware of any published decision wherein a New York state court has authorized service of process by means of social media, other jurisdictions have allowed such service. See Whoshere, Inc. v. Orun , 2014 WL 670817 (E.D. Va.), Federal Trade Commission v. PCCare247 Inc. , 2013 WL 841037 (S.D.N.Y.). The court notes that in both those matters service via Facebook was directed to be made in connection with other means of service. Pursuant to CPLR § 308(5) the court authorizes substituted service by the following method: the Petitioner is to send a digital copy of the summons and petition to the Respondent via the Facebook account, and follow up with a mailing of those same documents to the previously used last known address. The Respondent can receive communications via social media, whereas her actual physical whereabouts are uncertain. The method detailed here by the court provides the best chance of the Respondent getting actual notice of these proceedings.

ABA Survey Shows Viruses are More Common than Encryption at Law Firms

October 6, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Tech for Lawyers

Viruses are more common at law firms than encryption, ABA survey shows (Robert Ambrogi, 12 Sept 2014) – Nearly half of law firms were infected with viruses, spyware or malware last year, according to the latest ABA Legal Technology Survey Report. At the same time, only a quarter of law firms had any kind of email encryption available for their lawyers to use, the survey found. Also, 14% of law firms experienced a security breach last year in the form of a lost or stolen computer or smartphone, a hacker, a break-in or a website exploit. Taken together, these findings paint a sorry picture about the state of law firm security: Viruses are common; encryption is not. In the survey, 45% of respondents said that their law firm technology had been infected with a virus, spyware or malware. That was more or less the same as the two prior years (43% in 2013 and 44% in 2012) and down from 55% in 2011. Firms of 2-9 attorneys were most likely to have had a virus (51%), while firms of 500 or more attorneys were least likely (31%). Another 28% of respondents could not say whether their firm had been infected. On the bright side, of those who reported an infection, 48% said it resulted in no business losses or breaches. The most common negative results from virus infections were downtime/loss of billable hours (42%), consulting fees for repair (37%), and temporary loss of network access (25%).

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