A Ninth Circuit panel consisting of Judges A. Wallace Tashima, Johnnie B. Rawlinson, and Paul J. Watford recently heard oral argument in Anheuser-Busch Companies v. Clark, 17-15591, concerning the denial of a former employee’s anti-SLAPP motion in a trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract case. This is the second time the case has made its way up to the Ninth Circuit. We previously reported on this case in March 2017. The panel has not yet issued its decision but the Ninth Circuit’s decision could have far reaching implications for trade secret and data theft cases involving purported whistleblowing activities.
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Security Breach Responses — As Important and Difficult As Ever
This post originally appeared in the June edition of Cyber Law & Strategy.
Somewhere today at least one data security breach is likely to happen. It might not have been publicized and may not have involved millions of records, but there is no doubt it will happen. That is because cybercrime remains one of the most common crimes in the world, and noncriminal exposures are fairly common as well.
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Wisconsin U.S. Attorneys Actively Prosecuting Trade Secret Theft—With Mixed Results
The United States Attorneys’ Offices in Wisconsin criminally prosecuted two trade secret theft cases last week. In the Eastern District of Wisconsin (United States of America v. Tan Liu), the United States charged a former employee, Tan Liu, with 12 counts of stealing trade secrets from his former employer, Rockwell Automation, Inc. According to the government, in the last few weeks of his Rockwell employment, and in anticipation of leaving Rockwell for a new employer, Liu downloaded 2,500 files that contained the proprietary software and source code Rockwell uses to operate various systems and controllers.
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File Share Platforms and Business Risk
The use of open file sharing platforms in business continues to increase in 2017; Dropbox alone has over 200,000 active business accounts. Unfortunately, the convenience of these platforms and the increase in use by businesses attracts the attention of hackers as well. File sharing platforms and accounts have a high “hack value”—the overall value of the accounts on the dark web—due to the relative ease with which account can be obtained and the sensitivity of the information stored on these platforms.
The risk associated with the use of file share platforms is twofold. First, company supported file share is attractive to attackers because it is guaranteed to contain sensitive information. Second, file share platforms available to employees outside of the company—e.g. the employee Google Drive account—may be used to store company information, but likely do not use the same security standards as those enforced by the company. Attacks on file share platforms are also very real. In August of 2016 Dropbox forced users to reset their passwords based on a breach—60 million account credentials compromised—that had been discovered but was executed four years earlier in 2012.
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Key Employee Departures and Trade Secret Risk Assessment
As a special feature of our blog—special guest postings by experts, clients, and other professionals—please enjoy this blog entry from Charlie Platt, a director at iDiscovery Solutions.
It’s Friday afternoon and the conversation goes a little like this, “Wait, what? They’re leaving? Where are they going? Is there any opportunity to help them reconsider?”
When a key employee departs an organization, it can take a toll on clients and colleagues, productivity, and morale. What follows is a rush of activity: current projects are reviewed, transition plans are quickly drawn up and put in place, and decisions are made about how to replace the departing employee and how to communicate the departure to the rest of the firm and clients.
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The Smartphone: A Treasure Trove of Evidence in Trade Secret Cases
As a special feature of our blog—special guest postings by experts, clients, and other professionals—please enjoy this blog entry from Supreet Singh, a senior consultant at iDiscovery Solutions, Inc.
It’s hard to believe the first smartphone was released over 20 years ago. At that time, few thought it would become such an integral part of our lives. Additionally, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone and its introduction altered the world of digital forensics. Smartphones contain a wealth of personal and sensitive information like passwords, security or access codes, account numbers, electronic communications, and much more. But they are more than mere containers of data. Between the operating system, installed applications, and service providers, there’s a wealth of information that can provide dramatic insight into conversations, activities, habits, preferences, and movements of the phone’s user.
There are essentially three places where smartphone related data can be found: on the phone itself, with mobile app providers (e.g. Facebook, Snapchat, or Yelp), and with the service provider (e.g. AT&T or Verizon). Data from all three sources can be very useful in civil lawsuits, criminal cases, or internal investigations, depending on the needs of the case.
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Great Employee or Insider Threat?
As a special feature of our blog—special guest postings by experts, clients, and other professionals—please enjoy this blog entry from Charlie Platt, a director at iDiscovery Solutions and a Certified Ethical Hacker. He advises clients on data analytics, digital forensics, and cybersecurity.
At the airport recently, waiting for boarding, flipping through an issue of United States Cybersecurity Magazine, an article about detecting insider threats caught my eye. It was loosely based on a list of behaviors it claimed were ideal indicators for detecting insider threats. I thought, “Wow, this is great! I know plenty of clients who could benefit from this information.” Insider threats are difficult to detect, and I was excited by the opportunity to get new insight, but I became more and more distraught as I read on. The longer I read, the more I saw myself, and many of my cyber-colleagues, being described by the author’s so-called threat indicators. How could we, the good guys, be mistaken for threats?
I read through the list again, and for each point, I asked, “Is this a reliable indicator of a real threat, or a false positive?” I’ve provided the entire list below with my thoughts on each item.
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Webinar Recap! 2016 National Year In Review: What You Need to Know About the Recent Cases/Developments in Trade Secrets, Non-Compete, and Computer Fraud Law
We are pleased to announce the webinar “2016
National Year In Review:
What You Need to Know About the Recent Cases/Developments in Trade Secrets, Non-Compete, and Computer Fraud Law” is now available as a webinar recording.
In Seyfarth’s first installment of its 2017 Trade Secrets Webinar series, Seyfarth attorneys reviewed noteworthy cases and other
When Stealing in Baseball Can Land You in Jail: Computer Fraud Sentencing Announced in MLB Case
Although stealing bases, and even signs, in baseball may be part of the game, stealing another team’s trade secrets can land you in federal prison, as one executive recently learned the hard way.
As we previously reported, the FBI has been investigating the St. Louis Cardinals for hacking into the Houston Astros’ internal computer
Webinar Recap! Data Security & Trade Secret Protection for Lawyers
We are pleased to announce the webinar “Data Security & Trade Secret Protection for Lawyers” is now available as a podcast and webinar recording.
In the second installment, Seyfarth attorneys, Richard D. Lutkus and James S. Yu, was joined by Joseph Martinez, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Forensics at Innovative Discovery.