TheCorporateCounsel.net

December 17, 2012

SEC & Hacking: What Happens at the Black Hat Convention, Doesn’t Stay There…

Here’s how this article entitled “How the SEC Almost Shut Down Wall Street” begins:

Sensitive, confidential information belonging to major U.S. stock exchanges was at risk of being hacked, according to a new Reuters report. Securities and Exchange Commission Interim Inspector General Jon Rymer wrote in a 43-page report that some SEC staffers had used unprotected government computers at a Black Hat convention this year. This convention attracts hundreds of hacking experts who bring seemingly impenetrable devices with them to see if they can be cracked, says Adam Levin, chairman and cofounder of Credit.com. The SEC said the government-issued computers were not hacked and no unauthorized breach of data occured. According to Reuters, the SEC employees attending the conference had logged into the unencrypted computers through public wireless networks.

The Inspector General said the employees, who had worked in the SEC’s Trading and Markets division, were no longer at the federal agency. The SEC has been warning Wall Street firms and and market exchanges to beef up their cyber security efforts. But the government computers brought to the Black Hat convention did not have basic virus protection programs installed and the employees had neglected to encrypt the devices, Reuters reports.

And this Reuters article notes that the NYSE has hired former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to make sure sensitive exchange data was not breached after securities regulators left their computers unencrypted.

Here’s an interesting op-ed from Covington & Burling’s David Kornblau entitled “Regulate U.S. Markets Like the Nuclear Industry.”

Building FCPA Compliance Programs

In this podcast, Greg Dickinson of Hiperos discusses the latest developments in FCPA compliance, including:

– What does Hiperos do?
– How does your platform allow companies to facilitate forming their FCPA compliance programs?
– Any surprises in creating that platform?
– What do you see in 2013 as far as DOJ enforcement of the FCPA is concerned?
– What about the regulatory environment in general?

Heard Peter Coyote talk about the plight of wrongly imprisoned Leonard Peltier and it’s sad that this country still can’t get it right when it comes to freedom. Please sign this petition for clemency as he is in poor health and already served 37 years for something he didn’t do…

FCPA Regulators Speak on Newly Released FCPA Guidance

Here are notes from Morrison & Foerster from a recent conference where SEC and DOJ Staffers spoke about the new joint FCPA guidance (and here is Morgan Lewis’ memo on the same topic)…

– Broc Romanek