Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast: An Interview with Michael Daniel

Our interview is with Michael Daniel, former Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator at the White House and current President of the Cyber Threat Alliance. We ask Michael how the new guys are doing in his job, what he most regrets not getting done, why we didn’t float thumb drives filled with “The Interview” into North Korea on balloons, and any number of other politically incorrect questions. His answers are considerably more nuanced.

In the news roundup, we note that the second Wikileaks release is a damp squib, full of outmoded Apple exploits.

Michael Vatis and I unpack the Third Circuit ruling upholding imposition of contempt penalties on a defendant who has “forgotten” the password to his child porn trove. It turns out that the case offers a road map for prosecutors and police who want to make sure no one ever forgets a password in their jurisdiction.

Stephanie Roy notes that Congress has begun the process of repealing the ISP privacy and security regulations adopted under Chairman Wheeler. What, if anything, will replace them, and when, is a matter for lengthy speculation.

I note that the privacy zealots of Silicon Valley have fatally miscalculated the kind of support they’ll get in Europe for end-to-end encryption. Face it, guys, Europe hates you no matter what you do, and they’ll happily impose massive fines both for violating user privacy and for protecting it too well.

Does GCHQ spy on Americans for NSA? Nope. The real question is whether Rick Ledgett, number two at NSA, has already stopped sounding like a government employee when he talks to the press.

As always, the Cyberlaw Podcast welcomes feedback. Send an email to CyberlawPodcast@steptoe.com or leave a message at +1 202 862 5785.

Download the 156th episode (mp3).

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The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of the firm.