Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast: The Podcast Goes to the Conventions

If Vladimir Putin can do it, so can we. This week the podcast dives deep into the US presidential campaign.

I of course talk with Maury Shenk about evidence that the Russians are behind “Guccifer 2.0” and the DNC data leak – aided by a Wikileaks that looks more and more like an FSB front. I compare the largely indistinguishable Dem and GOP platform planks on encryption ‒ and draw a lesson from the straddles: there’s little doubt that every lobbyist who contributed to the platforms was working for Silicon Valley, so the failure to endorse the Valley’s view may spell trouble for techie triumphalism. I also spike the football for the Justice Department, whose policy views on the dangers of hacking back were swamped when the GOP called for letting victims of hacking have their way with the hackers.

Our interview this week touches on the insider threat. Andy Irwin describes the new DOD rule requiring contractors to devise insider monitoring plans for cleared personnel, and two industry leaders, Ed Hammersla, CSO of Forcepoint, and Brian White, COO of RedOwl Analytics, talk about what technology can do to spot incipient employee defections and data theft. A discussion of the role of natural language processing naturally reminds me of George Carlin and the seven dirty words you can’t say on the radio.

In other news, Katie Cassel unpacks another in a long line of increasingly incoherent 9th Circuit rulings on when it violates the CFAA for unwanted visitors to log on to a site. Katie also explains why the outcome of another data breach lawsuit might persuade Scottrade to change its name to Scot-Free.

Maury updates us on UK politics, from Theresa May’s honeymoon to the possibility that UK data retention law will survive review in the European Court of Justice. I flag a good (and, sadly, already outdated) House Homeland Security Committee report on 100 ISIS-linked terror plots against the West since 2014, a surprise reprieve for Silent Circle, and Whatsapp’s continuing “If it’s Tuesday we must be shut down; if it’s Wednesday we must be back up” drama in Brazil.

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

Download the 126th 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.