Steptoe & Johnson LLPâs Privacy and Cybersecurity team will join Peter Weitz, host of In Black and Weitz “Data Breaches â How to Protect Against Them“Â on the Voice America Business Channel. Â Steptoe partners Stewart Baker, Michael Vatis, and Jason Weinstein, all of whom previously held significant positions in the US government relating to privacy and cybersecurity, will discuss the impact of data breaches on a company, how to prevent them, and how to respond should one occur, including a companyâs obligations to notify its customers and clients. The lawyers will also discuss cybercrime, electronic data, and other related topics.
Mr. Baker served as the first assistant secretary for the policy at the Department of Homeland Security where he set cybersecurity policy, including inward investment reviews focused on network security. He is the author of âSkating on Stilts âWhy We Arenât Stopping Tomorrowâs Terrorism,â a book on the security challenges posed by technology, and a blog of the same name. Mr. Baker also served as general counsel of the National Security Agency.
Mr. Vatis was the founding director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI, the governmentâs first organization dedicated to detecting and investigating cyberattacks. He also served as associate deputy attorney general in the Department of Justice and special counsel at the Department of Defense, and was the first director of the Institute for Security Technology Studies at Dartmouth and the founding chairman of the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection (I3P).
Mr. Weinstein is a former deputy assistant attorney general of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) who supervised the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. In this position, he oversaw the most significant cybercrime, data breach, intellectual property theft, and transnational organized crime investigations in the country. He also regularly briefed government officials and members of Congress on cybercrime and intellectual property issues and testified on a number of occasions before Senate and House committees on cybercrime, cybersecurity, privacy and data protection, and intellectual property enforcement. Mr. Weinstein helped lead the DOJâs efforts to draft cybersecurity and data privacy legislation.
The three lawyers are authors of the Steptoe Cyberblog, which touches on topics including cybersecurity, cyberwar, data breach, privacy regulation, and security programs and policies. Featuring the authors sometimes contrasting insights, the Steptoe Cyberblog serves up opinionated and provocative thoughts on the issues â especially cybersecurity and privacy â that arise at the intersection of law, information technology, and security. The lawyers also host a weekly Cyberlaw Podcast that features top experts in the field.
During the show, the Steptoe lawyers will discuss the recently launched Data Breach Toolkit, a soup-to-nuts resource that provides companies with critical information and guidance to protect themselves before and after a data breach. The toolkit â which is a free resource but does not provide legal advice regarding breaches â was created by Steptoe to help companies minimize the chances of a breach, evaluate their level of preparation for a breach, and respond quickly and effectively to any breach that does occur despite the best preparation. The toolkit includes a useful outline of US federal and state breach notification laws.
About Steptoe
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm widely recognized for vigorous advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, successful representation of clients before governmental agencies, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in Beijing, Brussels, Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Phoenix and Washington.
About Peter Weitz
Peter is a Senior Vice President and equity partner of Fusion Analytics Investment Partners. He joined the industry over ten years ago after spending 13 years in real estate development in Washington, DC. After several years working for a large retail wire house, he became uncomfortable with the inherit conflicts of major brokerage institutions and joined Fusion Analytics in 2009 opening its South Florida office. A dual graduate of George Washington University, Peter holds both an undergraduate degree in business and a Masterâs Degree in Finance. His primary areas of practice include: corporate 401(K) and defined benefit plans, retirement planning and wealth retention. He has published several articles and spoken on numerous panels regarding ERISA regulations as they pertain to defined contribution and benefit plans and has been a recognized as a top performer in the 401(K) market place.
