Cybersecurity Breaches and Private Law – Taking Stock and Looking Ahead
Abstract:
Issues related to cybersecurity breaches are increasingly occupying the attention of policy makers and legal scholars. Data protection breaches; informational privacy issues; online fraudulent activities, cyber-attacks and more are extensively discussed and at times are also dealt by particular scrutinized responses of legislators and regulators. Regulatory and judiciary responses to cybersecurity breaches are dealt through a variety of means, including: public law mechanisms (e.g. state regulation, such as standards setting and compliance requirements); criminal law (the imposition of criminal liability for certain conducts and actions) and private law mechanisms – the imposition of civil liability for harms that result from cybersecurity breaches.
The purpose of this conference is to have a first debate that shall constitute the first kick-off event for an international research project that shall examine the interface of cybersecurity breaches and legal liability under private law. In order to adopt a step by step approach and gain valuable insights, the conference will focus on the specific case of cyber-security breaches affecting personal data which is of high policy and societal importance. The focus of this topic will make it possible to define more precisely the next steps of the research project.