Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report Publishes Akin Gump Article on SEC Ransomware Attack Risk Alert

Privacy & Cybersecurity Law Report has published the article “SEC’s Examination Function Warns Its Registrants of Risks Associated with Dangerous Malware.” Written by Akin Gump partners Peter Altman, Jason Daniel, Natasha Kohne and Michelle Reed and counsel Molly Whitman, the article discusses a risk alert from the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) that highlights several best practices “to protect against and respond to ransomware attacks.”

The authors begin with a look at the growing threat of ransomware, which they describe as “a type of malware that infects a computer or network and encrypts the system’s critical data until the victim pays a ransom to regain access.” They then outline several steps that are suggested in the risk alert to combat it.

The article concludes with the authors advising SEC registrants to “review the full list of identified best practices and procedures in the risk alert to avoid becoming the next victim of a ransomware threat.” They note that the OCIE “has signaled that how registrants control and respond to ransomware attacks will continue to be a focus of OCIE examinations” in the future.

To read the article in its entirety, please click here.