In Facebook Breach Cases, Judge Asks for a Cybersecurity Schooling
Mark your calendars, cyber-enthusiasts: Judge William Alsup is asking attorneys in a suit against Facebook over the massive data breach it disclosed in September for a rundown on "the subject of data privacy and the technology used to both protect and attack it."
November 08, 2018 at 03:38 PM
2 minute read
Judge William Alsup, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Mark your calendars, cyber-enthusiasts.
The federal judge overseeing a half dozen class action lawsuits targeting Facebook Inc. with claims related to a data breach affecting 50 million users has asked the lawyers in the case to give him a tutorial on data breaches, the dark web and all things cyber-related.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California, who makes a regular habit of asking lawyers in highly technical cases to help him get up to speed on the underlying technology, has asked for a tutorial in the Facebook cases in his San Francisco courtroom on Jan. 9 of next year. Alsup is giving each side one hour to present information on “the subject of data privacy and the technology used to both protect and attack it.”
“Specifically, how encryption technology works, how the industry protects databases of personal information, and how hackers are generally able to circumvent these protections and perform such widespread damage,” elaborated Alsup in Thursday's two-page notice regarding the tutorial. “Information as to the role of internet black markets—including the existence of the 'dark web' as the marketplace for personal information—would also be welcomed.”
Defense counsel has yet to make an appearance for Facebook in the earliest of the filed suits. Company representatives didn't immediately respond to an email asking whether the company planned to participate in the tutorial, which Alsup noted would be held in open court.
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