Meeting Information
Cybercrime and Cyber Insurance: What Every Financial Executive Should Know
Date:
Tuesday July 13, 2021
Time:
8:30am - 10:00am US/Pacific GMT-7:00
Location:
ZOOM MEETING

TIME ZONE: US PDT

You must register on The FENG website by the day before the meeting, noon, to receive the Zoom instructions.

You will be sent the Zoom link at approximately 5:00 p.m. the day before the meeting.

If you miss the deadline or do not receive the link (make sure you check your SPAM folder), please contact:

Dan Ruchman
San Diego Chapter Chair
[email protected]
Directions:

Meeting capacity:

300

Suggested Donation:

Agenda:

DUE TO THE JULY 4TH Holiday, we will be meeting the 2nd Tuesday of the month.

Topic: Cybercrime and Cyber Insurance: What Every Financial Executive Should Know


Speakers: Josh Franklin and Cheryl Dunn Soto, partners in Franklin | Soto LLP Law, specializing in business and insurance law and litigation.

Presentation:

Cybercrime is a growth industry like few others.  Like any industry, it's got big and small players.  It's got R&D, marketing, sales, manufacturing operations and, in many cases, government sponsorship.  It is big business, and it is not stopping anytime soon.  

San Diego's own Scripps Healthcare system was hit just two months ago with a ransomware attack, affecting tens of thousands of people, including some in this meeting, with the ensuing litigation having already begun and the full effects, solutions and costs still rippling through the Scripps Health system. The Colonial pipeline attack froze energy supplies in a large swath of the U.S. Just last week, a hacker group named REvil, fresh on the heels of their successful extortion of $11 million from meat-processor JBS last month, deployed a successful ransomware attack on Kaseya, a key player in the software supply chain, resulting in over a million infected systems. REvil is demanding over $70 million to be paid in order for the victims to retrieve their data. 

Other recent events to help us appreciate the scope of the problem: Several years ago, the Equifax hacking resulted in the unauthorized release of sensitive information on over 140 million Americans.  Around that same time, Verizon lowered its purchase offer to Yahoo by over $300 million, a huge hit to Yahoo's shareholders, as a direct result of two massive hackings into the systems at Yahoo.  In 2021, Russian "private party" hacking into American companies is now affecting global diplomacy at the highest levels, with the potential for the implementation of crushing economic sanctions against the Russian state costing them billions of dollars.

The one common thread in all the above cases?  Huge costs to companies, in terms of legal defense, disruption to operations and lost management time spent dealing with the ripple effects from the cyber attacks.

Businesses of all sizes have been experiencing data breaches, ransomware attacks, and other cyber events at an increasing rate over the past 10 years.  The costs associated with these events can be catastrophic, with the potential for putting companies out of business. 

To protect themselves against the ongoing threat, more and more businesses are looking to offset the risks, at least in part, with cyber insurance. 

Cyber insurance coverage is still relatively new, with some risks not yet addressed by uniform policy language across the industry.  Coverage and cost can vary dramatically from carrier to carrier based on different protections, definitions and exclusions. Additionally, many of the operative terms used in cyber policies are continually being tested in court in new ways. Even as legal precedents get established, there remains significant uncertainty about what is actually covered by some of these relatively new and untested policies. 

This talk by Josh Franklin and Cheryl Dunn Soto will address (1) what protections to put in place before even looking at cyber insurance, (2) the most common types of insurable cyber risks, (3) key exclusions to be aware of, (4) how to negotiate enhanced coverage, and (5) best practices for tendering claims and responding to claim denials.

By the end of this session, you will have a much higher understanding of:

- Why cyber insurance can do for you -- and what it can't do

- Important considerations in choosing a cyber policy

-  Key provisions to be negotiated

-  Exclusions to avoid

-  What to do when you have a claim

-  What to do if your claim is denied

Cybercrime is not going away anytime soon. Hackers and cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated by the day.  In this session, we'll be learning a whole set of practical tips for using insurance to protect ourselves and our companies against the bad actors out there in cyberspace.

Bring your questions and any war stories -- and get ready for an engaging presentation from Cheryl and Josh.

  

Speakers’ bios:

Josh Franklin and Cheryl Dunn Soto are the founding partners of the Franklin | Soto LLP law firm.  The firm focuses on business tort litigation and insurance recovery.  It typically represents businesses in bringing or defending business tort claims, including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, and conspiracy, among others.  In the area of insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, the firm represents only policyholders.  They have represented both individual and commercial policyholders in the analysis and litigation of matters involving a variety of types of insurance, including Cyber, Commercial General Liability (“CGL”), Directors and Officers (“D&O”), Errors and Omissions (“E&O”), Professional Liability, Excess/Umbrella, and others.  They have extensive experience in these practice areas and, as a result, are frequently asked to assist other attorneys as co-counsel or in other capacities.

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Josh Franklin is a business trial lawyer who has tried nearly fifty jury trials in his career.  He handles cases throughout California and beyond, focusing primarily on business litigation and insurance coverage/bad faith litigation.  He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of high-stakes disputes, including class actions, alleging breach of contract and business torts such as fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, intentional interference with contractual relations, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violations of state and federal securities statutes.  Josh’s experience before forming Franklin | Soto LLP includes practicing with Arnold & Porter, one of the largest law firms in the country, and serving as a Deputy District Attorney in the Economic Crime Unit of the Denver District Attorney’s Office.  He has tried a wide variety of cases, ranging from insurance bad faith to securities fraud to first-degree murder, among others.

 

Josh has his BA in International Studies from Fordham University, and his law degree from the University of Colorado, serving on the Law Review while getting his JD.  He served as the 2017 Chair of the Insurance/Bad Faith Law Section of the San Diego County Bar Association, and was recognized as one of 100 attorneys on the San Diego Business Journal's 2017 "Best of the Bar" list.  Josh is licensed to practice in California, New York and Colorado.
 

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Cheryl Dunn Soto is a business litigator and insurance coverage attorney with 25 years of legal experience.  Her practice focuses on insurance coverage and bad faith litigation on behalf of commercial policyholders. She has handled matters involving a wide variety of commercial policies, including directors and officers (“D&O”), errors and omissions (“E&O”), employment practices (“EPL”), commercial general liability (“CGL”), cyber, property, excess/umbrella and other commercial policies.  Her clients have included contractors, dealer-brokers, auto dealers, non-profit organizations, and companies of all sizes located throughout the country. Prior to entering private practice, Cheryl worked for five federal judges, in both Arizona and California, including a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judge. 

 

Cheryl graduated with her BA summa cum laude from the University of Arizona, and similarly received her law degree summa cum laude from the U of A.  She served on the U of A Law Review.  She has spoken to the SD County Bar Association on such subjects as cyber insurance, insurance law updates, and attorney-client privilege in the insurance realm.  She is a past chair of the SD County Bar Association's Insurance/Bad Faith Law Section.  Cheryl has a peer-review rating of “AV-Preeminent” from Martindale Hubbell and is licensed to practice in California, New York and Arizona.

Some Meeting Details and logistics info: 

All FENG members are welcome to register. You are free to invite outside guests, as well, especially those who you think could directly benefit from gaining an understanding of the issues surrounding cybercrime and cyber insurance -- or who can contribute their own war stories to the discussion.

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CPE Credits: Reminder for those members maintaining their professional certifications - we offer the documentation for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for our speaker presentations. For those members interested in this, you may complete the appropriate forms, which we'll have available at the meeting, for 1.0 hours of CPE credit

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Zoom Screen: Make sure your First and Last Name appear on your screen.

For meeting information, please contact:

Dan Ruchman

(585) 721-7843
Attendees
20
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