PRATT’S PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY LAW REPORT
AN A.S. PRATT PUBLICATION
APRIL 2016
VOL. 2 • NO. 3
PRATT’S
PRIVACY &
CYBERSECURITY
LAW
REPORT
EDITOR’S NOTE: SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!
Steven A.
Meyerowitz
APRIL 2016
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE SERVED WITH A
SEARCH WARRANT
Manny A. Abascal and Robert E. Sims
PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS CYBERSECURITY
ACT OF 2015 TO ENCOURAGE CYBERSECURITY
INFORMATION SHARING
Kenneth L.
Wainstein, Keith M. Gerver,
and Peter T. Carey
VOL.
2 • NO. 3
A SKIMPY RISK ANALYSIS IS RISKY BUSINESS
FOR HIPAA COVERED ENTITIES AND
BUSINESS ASSOCIATES
Kimberly C. Metzger
THE FTC, UNFAIR PRACTICES, AND
CYBERSECURITY: TWO STEPS FORWARD,
AND TWO STEPS BACK
David Bender
DRONES AT HOME: DHS PUBLISHES BEST
PRACTICES FOR PROTECTING PRIVACY, CIVIL
RIGHTS, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES IN DOMESTIC
UAS PROGRAMS
Charles A.
Blanchard, David J. Weiner,
Tom McSorley, and Elizabeth T.M. Fitzpatrick
.
Pratt’s Privacy & Cybersecurity
Law Report
VOLUME 2
NUMBER 3
APRIL 2016
Editor’s Note: Something for Everyone!
Steven A. Meyerowitz
83
What to Do When You Are Served With a Search Warrant
Manny A. Abascal and Robert E. Sims
85
President Obama Signs Cybersecurity Act of 2015 to Encourage Cybersecurity
Information Sharing
Kenneth L.
Wainstein, Keith M. Gerver, and Peter T. Carey
91
A Skimpy Risk Analysis is Risky Business for HIPAA Covered Entities and
Business Associates
Kimberly C.
Metzger
97
The FTC, Unfair Practices, and Cybersecurity: Two Steps Forward, and
Two Steps Back
David Bender
105
Drones at Home: DHS Publishes Best Practices for Protecting Privacy,
Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties in Domestic UAS Programs
Charles A. Blanchard, David J. Weiner, Tom McSorley, and Elizabeth T.M.
Fitzpatrick
113
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iii
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iv
.
President Obama Signs Cybersecurity Act of
2015 to Encourage Cybersecurity Information
Sharing
By Kenneth L. Wainstein, Keith M. Gerver, and Peter T. Carey*
The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 – Congress’s ï¬rst major piece of cybersecurity legislation –
has been years in the making.
President Obama signed into law a $1.1 trillion omnibus
spending bill that contained the Act late last year. The authors of this article discuss the
Act and its implications.
President Obama recently signed into law a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that
contained the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 (the ‘‘Act’’), a compromise bill based on
competing cybersecurity information sharing bills that passed the House and Senate
earlier last year. The Act creates a voluntary cybersecurity information sharing process
designed to encourage public and private sector entities to share cyber threat information.1
SUMMARY OF KEY PROVISIONS
Although laws have long authorized the sharing of certain cybersecurity information,
in practice there have been numerous obstacles impeding the effective exchange of
information between and among the federal government and entities in the private
sector.
These include concerns about the possible public release through a public
records request of data shared with the federal government, the privacy rights of
individuals whose information may be included in information shared with the
federal government, potential antitrust violations, and the use of shared information
as evidence in regulatory enforcement actions against entities that have shared information with the federal government.2
* Kenneth L. Wainstein is a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP and chair of the
ï¬rm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group, concentrating his practice on corporate
internal investigations and civil and criminal enforcement proceedings. Keith M.
Gerver and
Peter T. Carey are associates in the ï¬rm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Group. Resident
in the ï¬rm’s Washington, D.C., ofï¬ce, the authors may be contacted at ken.wainstein@cwt.com,
keith.gerver@cwt.com, and peter.carey@cwt.com, respectively.
1
The Act also includes provisions to promote monitoring information systems and operating defensive
measures for cybersecurity purposes, improve federal network and information system security, provide
assessments on the federal cybersecurity workforce, and provide reporting and strategies on cybersecurity
industry-related and criminal-related matters.
2
See generally Kimberly Peretti, Cyber Threat Intelligence: To Share or Not to Share—What Are the Real
Concerns?, Privacy & Security Law Report (Sept.
2014); Exchanging Cyber Threat Intelligence: There Has to
Be a Better Way, Ponemon Institute (Apr. 2014), available at http://content.internetidentity.com/acton/
attachment/8504/f-001b/1/-/-/-/-/Ponemon%20Study.pdf; Andrew Nolan, Cybersecurity and Information Sharing: Legal Challenges and Solutions, Cong. Research Serv.
(Mar. 16, 2015).
91
. PRATT’S PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY LAW REPORT
The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 aims to address many of those concerns, creating a
mechanism to facilitate and encourage information sharing between and among the
federal government and entities in the private sector.3 Under the Act, the federal
government is directed to create a process for sharing both classiï¬ed and unclassiï¬ed
cyber threat indicators and defensive measures with the private sector, as well as
information relating to certain cybersecurity threats and best practices.4 Entities in
the private sector, in turn, are afforded several protections when they share cybersecurity information in accordance with the Act. Under the Act’s key information
sharing provision, ‘‘a non-Federal entity may, for a cybersecurity purpose and consistent with the protection of classiï¬ed information, share with, or receive from, any other
non-Federal entity or the Federal Government a cyber threat indicator or defensive
measure.’’5
The meaning of this provision hinges on how the key terms are deï¬ned. The
following analysis clariï¬es the meaning of those terms to assess what information
sharing will look like under the framework established by the Act.
What Information Can Be Shared?
The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 provides that ‘‘non-federal entities’’ – any person,
private group, or state or local government – may share with the federal government
both cyber threat indicators and defensive measures. A cyber threat indicator6 includes
3
Speciï¬cally, the Act creates a framework for information sharing among the federal government and
‘‘non-Federal entities,’’ which includes not only private entities but also non-federal government agencies
or departments as well as state, tribal, and local governments.
See Cybersecurity Act of 2015, § 102(14),
hereinafter ‘‘Cybersecurity Act.’’
4
See id. at § 103.
5
Cybersecurity Act, § 104(c)(1).
6
See id. at § 102(6) (‘‘The term ‘cyber threat indicator’ means information that is necessary to describe
or identify—(A) malicious reconnaissance, including anomalous patterns of communications that appear
to be transmitted for the purpose of gathering technical information related to a cybersecurity threat or
security vulnerability; (B) a method of defeating a security control or exploitation of a security vulnerability; (C) a security vulnerability, including anomalous activity that appears to indicate the existence of a
security vulnerability; (D) a method of causing a user with legitimate access to an information system or
information that is stored on, processed by, or transiting an information system to unwittingly enable the
defeat of a security control or exploitation of a security vulnerability; (E) malicious cyber command and
control; (F) the actual or potential harm caused by an incident, including a description of the information
exï¬ltrated as a result of a particular cybersecurity threat; (G) any other attribute of a cybersecurity threat, if
disclosure of such attribute is not otherwise prohibited by law; or (H) any combination thereof.’’).
Many
of these terms are further deï¬ned in the Act.
92
. PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS CYBERSECURITY ACT
information that is necessary to describe or identify attributes of a cybersecurity
threat.7 A defensive measure is broadly deï¬ned as ‘‘an action, device, procedure,
signature, technique, or other measure’’ that ‘‘detects, prevents, or mitigates a
known or suspected cybersecurity threat or security vulnerability.’’8
What Information Cannot Be Shared?
Under the Cybersecurity Act of 2015, the private sector may only share information
that falls within the Act’s deï¬nitions of cyber threat indicator or defensive measure.
Prior to sharing a cyber threat indicator with the federal government, a private entity
must remove certain personal information. Speciï¬cally, entities are required to remove
information that the entity ‘‘knows at the time of sharing to be personal information of
a speciï¬c individual or information that identiï¬es a speciï¬c individual.’’9
With Whom Can Information Be Shared?
While the Department of Homeland Security is charged with developing the
mechanism by which the federal government receives in real time cyber threat indicators and defensive measures shared by entities in the private sector, 10 that
information is then shared ‘‘in an automated manner with all of the appropriate
Federal entities,’’ to include the Ofï¬ce of the Director of National Intelligence and
the Departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice, and
Treasury.11 Moreover, the President may designate other federal entities in addition to
the Department of Homeland Security, but not the Department of Defense, to
develop and implement a similar capability and process for receiving in the ï¬rst
instance cyber threat indicators and defensive measures shared by entities in the
private sector.12
7
See id. at § 102(5) (‘‘(A) In General.—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the term ‘cybersecurity
threat’ means an action, not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States,
on or through an information system that may result in an unauthorized effort to adversely impact the
security, availability, conï¬dentiality, or integrity of an information system or information that is stored on,
processed by, or transiting an information system. (B) Exclusion.—The term ‘cybersecurity threat’ does
not include any action that solely involves a violation of a consumer term of service or a consumer
licensing agreement.’’).
8
Cybersecurity Act, § 102(7).
9
Id.
at § 104(d)(2)(A).
10
See id. at § 105(c).
11
Id. at §§ 102(3), 105(a)(3)(A).
12
Id.
at § 105(c)(2)(B).
93
. PRATT’S PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY LAW REPORT
What Can the Government Do With the Information?
The federal government is limited in its ability to disclose, retain, and use shared
cybersecurity information. This information may be used solely for ‘‘a cybersecurity
purpose,’’13 identifying cybersecurity threats or vulnerabilities, and in certain other law
enforcement investigations related to a speciï¬c threat of death or serious bodily harm
or a speciï¬c threat of serious economic harm, a serious threat to a minor, and certain
speciï¬ed offenses such as fraud and identity theft.14 Federal agencies cannot release
shared cybersecurity information, which the Act exempts from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act.15
How Does the Cybersecurity Act Promote Information Sharing?
Supporters of information sharing claim that increasing the flow of cybersecurity
information between the federal government and private sector will improve the
cybersecurity of all participants. While the prospect of a more secure cyberspace
may be sufï¬cient to motivate some private entities to share cyber threat indicators
and defensive measures with the federal government, the Act provides certain assurances to entities in the private sector to encourage such sharing. In addition to the
protection against public disclosure and the limitations on the federal government’s
use of shared information, the Act’s principal incentive to encourage information
sharing is liability protection for private entities that share information in accordance
with the Act.
Speciï¬cally, the Act provides that ‘‘no cause of action shall lie or be
maintained in any court against any private entity, and such action shall be promptly
dismissed, for the monitoring of an information system and information . . .
[or] for
the sharing or receipt of a cyber threat indicator or defensive measure.’’16
While the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 paves the way for entities to share cyber threat
indicators with the federal government, details will be fleshed out in a series of
implementing regulations and guidance intended to promote information sharing
while protecting privacy and civil liberties, including publicly available guidance to
be jointly developed by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.17
13
Id. at § 102(4) (‘‘Cybersecurity purpose.—The term ‘cybersecurity purpose’ means the purpose of
protecting an information system or information that is stored on, processed by, or transiting an information system from a cybersecurity threat or security vulnerability.’’). In addition, ‘‘the term ‘security
vulnerability’ means any attribute of hardware, software, process, or procedure that could enable or
facilitate the defeat of a security control.’’ Cybersecurity Act, § 102(17).
14
See Cybersecurity Act, § 105(d)(5).
15
Id.
at § 105(d)(3).
16
Cybersecurity Act, § 106(a)-(b).
17
See id. at § 105(a).
94
. PRESIDENT OBAMA SIGNS CYBERSECURITY ACT
REACTIONS TO THE LEGISLATION
Reaction to the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 has been decidedly mixed, with some
privacy advocates characterizing it as a ‘‘thinly disguised surveillance provision . . . born
of a climate of fear,’’18 while major business industry groups, such as the U.S.
Chamber
of Commerce, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the National Retail Federation
expressed their support for its provisions.19 Major tech companies, such as Apple,
Twitter, and Yelp, as well as leading industry groups, such as the Computer and
Communications Industry Association, had previously opposed the Senate’s version
of the bill, which passed in late October.20 Even though some of these organizations’
requested changes were incorporated into the ï¬nal version of the bill, they ultimately
did not support its passage, with some companies indicating that they will not participate in the sharing program.21
IMPLICATIONS AND TAKEAWAYS
The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 – Congress’s ï¬rst major piece of cybersecurity
legislation – has been years in the making. The Act’s focus, however, is relatively
modest, with one commentator calling information sharing ‘‘last decade’s answer’’ to
the cybersecurity problem.22
The law’s provisions are voluntary in nature, and as such, businesses are under no
obligation to share cyber threat indicators with the federal government or each other.
The beneï¬ts of the bill’s liability protection may also be somewhat overstated, at least
with respect to information sharing among private entities. The recent proliferation of
private sector information sharing organizations, such as Facebook’s ThreatExchange,
18
Jenna McLaughlin, Hasty, Fearful Passage of Cybersecurity Bill Recalls Patriot Act, The Intercept (Dec.
19, 2015, 11:05 AM), https://theintercept.com/2015/12/19/hasty-fearful-passage-of-cybersecurity-billrecalls-patriot-act/.
19
See, e.g., Press Release, National Retail Federation, Retailers Say Spending Plan Provides Broad Relief
That Will Boost Economy (Dec.
18, 2015), available at https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/retailers-sayspending-plan-provides-broad-relief-will-boost-economy; Press Release, U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
U.S. Chamber President Comments on Omnibus Spending Bill (Dec.
16, 2015), available at
https://www.uschamber.com/press-release/us-chamber-president-comments-omnibus-spending-bill; Tim
Starks, Final Verdict on the Cybersecurity Bill, Politico (Dec. 18, 2015, 10:00 AM), http://www.politico.
com/tipsheets/morning-cybersecurity/2015/12/ï¬nal-verdict-on-the-cybersecurity-bill-211837#ixzz3ugb
TkYaf, hereinafter ‘‘Starks, Final Verdict on the Cybersecurity Bill’’ (quoting Financial Services Roundtable
Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Francis Creighton, who said, ‘‘It’s as good a bill as Congress
has passed this year’’ and described the Act as a ‘‘strong effort to make our systems a little bit safer’’).
20
See Cory Bennett, Cybersecurity’s Winners and Losers, The Hill (Dec. 19, 2015, 1:31 PM), http://the
hill.com/policy/cybersecurity/263785-cybesecuritys-winners-and-losers, hereinafter ‘‘Bennett, Cybersecurity’s
Winners and Losers;’’ Cory Bennett, Major Tech Group Comes Out Against Cyber Bill, The Hill (Oct.
15, 2015,
12:34 PM), http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/257029-major-tech-group-opposes-cyber-bill.
21
See Bennett, Cybersecurity’s Winners and Losers, supra note 20.
22
Starks, Final Verdict on the Cybersecurity Bill, supra note 19.
95
. PRATT’S PRIVACY & CYBERSECURITY LAW REPORT
may suggest that companies are not especially concerned about potential liability
arising from such sharing.23 Indeed, the Act’s antitrust liability protections probably
are little more than a legislative formality, as the Department of Justice and Federal
Trade Commission’s joint Antitrust Policy Statement on Sharing of Cybersecurity
Information made clear that the antitrust enforcement agencies ‘‘do not believe that
antitrust is—or should be—a roadblock to legitimate cybersecurity information
sharing’’ and provided guidelines on sharing such information without running
afoul of the antitrust laws. The Act’s protection from liability for private entities
when sharing cyber threat indicators or defensive measures with the federal government likely was unnecessary as well, as privacy experts and technologists have long
argued that such indicators typically do not contain private data and are already being
shared with the federal government in the case of a cyber attack.24
Although a limited measure, the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 should facilitate
increased information sharing among private sector entities and between the private
sector and the federal government, which will at least marginally improve the nation’s
cybersecurity. And while the Act provides for liability protection, private actors looking
to share cyber threat indicators or other cyber-related information with each other or
with the government should continue to consult counsel, especially when assessing
how the Act’s provisions interact with other federal and state laws and regulations
regarding access to and use of proprietary or personally identiï¬able information.25
23
See Steven Norton, Facebook Says More Than 90 Companies Using Cybersecurity Information Sharing
Platform, CIO Journal (Aug. 21, 2015, 6:16 PM), http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/08/21/facebook-saysmore-than-90-companies-using-cybersecurity-information-sharing-platform/.
24
See, e.g., Letter from Technologists to Sens.
Richard Burr & Diane Feinstein & Reps. Adam Schiff,
Devin Nunes, & Michael McCaul (Apr. 16, 2015), available at http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/ï¬les/blogs/
technologists_info_sharing_bills_letter_w_exhibit.pdf.
25
See, e.g., Jennifer Granick, OmniCISA Pits DHS Against the FCC and FTC on User Privacy, Just
Security (Dec.
16, 2015, 6:09 PM), https://www.justsecurity.org/28386/omnicisa-pits-governmentagainst-self-privacy/.
96
.