Dear Readers,
We are proud to present the Annual Survey Issue of the Twenty-Third Volume of the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology. Since 1995, when JOLT became the first law review to publish exclusively online, our Journal has strived to be a leading publication in the legal technology field. The goal of our annual survey is to publish relevant and practical articles to assist and educate our readers. Many of our published authors served as speakers at our Annual Symposium, which focused on cyber security. We hope that their articles provide our readers with insight into various cyber security threats facing so many people in our constantly evolving, technological world.
Our first article is entitled “The New Information Governance Playbook for Addressing Digital Age Threats.” In the article, author Philip Favro examines the growing threat of cyber security risks, partially due to the expected growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and consumer-grade cloud applications. The author explains that there is a necessity for a variety of organizations to take proactive steps to protect their data by creating a governance plan, or playbook. Favro explains that numerous organizations have corporate vulnerabilities that make them prone to cyber attacks. Favro details the different governance strategies and procedures that organizations should take to guard their information, such as manufacturing advances in security, data mapping, and designing an incident response.
The second article is written by James Sherer, Melinda McLellan, Emily Fedeles, and Nichole Sterline. The article is entitled, “Ransomware – Practical and Legal Considerations for Confronting the New Economic Engine of the Dark Web.” The authors describe the prevalence and increase in frequency of ransomware attacks during the past two decades. The article describes different types of ransomware attacks, such as locker ransomware and crypto ransomware. Practically, the authors suggest how practitioners should respond to a variety of ransomware threats and address the question, “Should you pay the ransom being requested?” The article addresses both preventative solutions as well as vigilant responses to this epidemic.
Our third article is written by JOLT’s own Corinne Moini. Ms. Moini addresses the terrifying phenomenon of hacking to gain personal information of minors through “smart toys,” which connect to the Internet via Wifi and Bluetooth connections. Ms. Moini illustrates several case examples and advances a proposal to combat potential hackers by utilizing preventative ethical hacking. In addressing the existing legislation Ms. Moini concludes that mandating ethical hacking preventative measures by amending the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is a unique remedy that could help alleviate hacks of this nature.
On behalf of the Volume XXIII JOLT staff, I want to extend our sincerest thanks to our fantastic authors and symposium speakers. I would like to thank the JOLT Editorial Board and Staff for their hard work in publishing this survey. In addition, I would like to sincerely thank my four JOLT Survey and Symposium Associates, Sophie Brasseux, Ellie Faust, Joe Strafaci, and Andrew Toney, who have worked tirelessly with me for the past seven months to ensure that this survey and our annual symposium were great successes. As always, JOLT appreciates the ongoing support of our faculty advisors, Dean Jim Gibson and Professor Chris Cotropia. Finally, we as a Journal would like to thank our readers. We are always appreciative of the impressive readership that our Journal has cultivated, and we hope for your continued interest in the future.
Thank you for visiting the Richmond Journal of Law & Technology. We sincerely hope that you enjoy our Annual Survey Issue. As always, your questions, comments, and suggestions are welcomed @jolt.richmond.edu.
Sincerely,
Quinn B. Novak
Annual Survey and Symposium Editor, Volume XXIII
Mandated Ethical Hacking—a Repackaged Solution, By: Corinne Moini
The New Information Governance Playbook for Addressing Digital Age Threats, By: Philip Favro, Donald Billings, David Horrigan & Adam Kuhn
Ransomware – Practical and Legal Considerations for Confronting the New Economic Engine of the Dark Web, By: James A. Sherer, Melinda L. McLellan, Emily R. Fedeles, and Nichole L. Sterling