- Government lawyers don’t understand the internet. That’s a problem (Washington Post): A recent article by the Washington Post discussed challenges government lawyers face when it comes to technical issues. The article discusses numerous cases in which the Department of Justice simply got it wrong when it came to understanding technical issues in different cases. The article reports that this is either a result of intentional exploitation of judges’ lack of knowledge, or the lawyers’ themselves not having the necessary background. Technology moves faster than the law, and we’re seeing the consequences now, according to the article by Garrett Graff. While the government has taken measures to improve this, much of the burden will fall on law schools to bridge the gap between the law and tech fields. The full article can be found here.
- Yahoo Breach: Senators Demand Answers (Wall Street Journal): This blog recently addressed the Yahoo breach before the full report came out. Further details have emerged showing that more than 500 million users information was compromised. The company initially denied knowing about the hacks but apparently reported the first breaches to the FBI. Six senators wrote to Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer demanding more details on how the hacks were handled. The full letter can be seen at the right. The WSJ article can be found here.
- GAO slams HHS in health IT cybersecurity report (Modern Healthcare): A recent article by Modern Healthcare discussed what is being called a “scathing” report by the GAO. Health and Human Services is the latest government agency to come under the microscope and fall short of expectations in cybersecurity. Since 2009, according to the article, there have been over 1,600 breaches that compromised the health records of 500 individuals or more. The article says that two senators, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Patty Murray from Washington requested the report, which can be found below. The full text of the article can be found here.
Christopher Folk
This WAPO article really underscores the lack of technological understanding amongst and within the Court system. As we see a rapid rise in cyber and technology cases this is somewhat frightening, knowing that we are placing the outcome of these cases in the hands of often poorly trained lawyers and judges that are tasked with making sense of that which they do not understand and then trying to translate gibberish for the juries. As difficult as it is to fill the open cybersecurity positions, I fail to see how we are going to acknowledge and address this similar skills-shortage in the legal sector. This is quite disconcerting.
Christopher Folk
This WAPO article really underscores the lack of technological understanding amongst and within the Court system. As we see a rapid rise in cyber and technology cases this is somewhat frightening, knowing that we are placing the outcome of these cases in the hands of often poorly trained lawyers and judges that are tasked with making sense of that which they do not understand and then trying to translate gibberish for the juries. As difficult as it is to fill the open cybersecurity positions, I fail to see how we are going to acknowledge and address this similar skills-shortage in the legal sector. This is quite disconcerting.