Cyber Lawsuits Increasingly Target Boards

Charlotte Litigation Member Ed O’Keefe was quoted in the Agenda article entitled, “Cyber Lawsuits Increasingly Target Boards” that was published on May 6. The article discusses how directors and officers are increasingly being targeted in derivative cases over cyber-related missteps.

O’Keefe is quoted, “A board should indeed be aware of the cyber risks a company faces and needs to set the overall tone and direction for addressing and mitigating those threats. This should include oversight of cyber-security policies and programs and regular reporting from CISOs. The board should additionally be apprised of legal and regulatory changes that would impact a company’s cyber-security program, especially as certain related risks have increased in recent years.” “Being reasonably apprised of what is going on in a company related to cyber is critical for directors, as this can mitigate the litigation risks for boards”, O’Keefe explains. “While the risks of cyber security have increased for companies, boards that follow reasonable, structured and disciplined processes for the oversight of cyber-security risk, including its disclosure, should not face materially increased risk.”

 The full article can be found below.