Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast: An Interview with Suzanne Spaulding

Just how sophisticated are the nations planning and carrying out cyberattacks on electric grids? Very, is the short answer. Our guest for episode 111, Suzanne Spaulding, DHS’s Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, lays out just how much planning and resources went into the attack on Ukraine’s grid, what it means for US industry, the information sharing that can mitigate the consequences, and why the incident reinforces the need to stand up the Cyber and Infrastructure Protection Agency at DHS.

Our news roundup concentrates on the draft Senate bill on encryption from Senators Burr and Feinstein. Not surprisingly, I find the critics to be mostly off point and occasionally unhinged in inimitable tech-sector fashion. Sen. Wyden condemns the bill, and no one is surprised. The White House ducks a fight over the legislation, and mostly no one cares any more. I offer the view that as more Silicon Valley firms adopt easy, universal, unbreakable crypto, the tide will slowly turn against them, as the list of crypto victims keeps getting longer.

Kaitlin Cassel and Alan Cohn unpack the consequences for law firms of the Mossack Fonseca leak, and Suzanne Spaulding weighs in with advice for the legal profession.

The US adds China’s Internet controls to its list of trade barriers. Kaitlin and I muse on the significance of that step (short term: none; long term: we could see a WTO case against China).

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

Download the 111th 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.