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Franchise Companies vs. Hackers: Twenty Questions on Cybercrime
The 21st century is clearly the age of cybercrime, and franchise companies should be especially concerned because, simplistically, there are only two types of computer systems: those that have been hacked, and those that will be hacked. Franchise companies are uniquely vulnerable in two areas because they possess massive collections of personally identifiable information (“PII”), and they have substantial asset bases of intangible property. Both the PII and the intangible assets can be easily copied without leaving the premises. Any transaction involving a card with a magnetic strip involves risk, and any franchise company's computer system designed to allow access to multiple users (such as franchisees, vendors, suppliers, etc.) poses an enormous risk of being penetrated. All companies using e-mail or the Internet are vulnerable; firewalls offer no protection once a hacker has infiltrated.
And things are going to get worse. Speaking to the BBC for a report on technology, Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, an IT security firm based in Helsinki, Finland, said last year, “Crime tends to rise when you have more unemployment. If you look, in general, where the attacks are coming from you can find social reasons behind them.” Experts at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, called for a new system to tackle well-organized gangs of cybercriminals, and they claimed that online theft costs $1 trillion a year, that the number of attacks is rising sharply, and that too many people do not know how to protect themselves.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
How AI Has Affected PR
When we consider how the use of AI affects legal PR and communications, we have to look at it as an industrywide global phenomenon. A recent online conference provided an overview of the latest AI trends in public relations, and specifically, the impact of AI on communications. Here are some of the key points and takeaways from several of the speakers, who provided current best practices, tips, concerns and case studies.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.