Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On January 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published finalized Security Requirements for Restricted Transactions as designated by the Department of Justice in the DOJ’s final rulemaking, each pursuant to Executive Order 14117 (Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern). The Requirements and DOJ rule will go into effect on April 8, 2025.

During the week of January 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights entered into resolution agreements and corrective action plans with Elgon Information Systems, Virtual Private Network Solutions, LLC and USR Holdings, LLC for violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Security Rule.

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a comprehensive final rule implementing Executive Order 14117, Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern. The Final Rule will go into effect on April 8, 2025, with the exception of certain due diligence, audit and reporting obligations, which will become effective on October 5, 2025.

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) to update the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) Security Rule.  The NPRM is intended to strengthen cybersecurity protections for electronic protected health information (“ePHI”) in light of increasing cybersecurity threats to the health care sector.

On November 25, 2024, the New York Attorney General and New York Department of Financial Services announced a $11.3 million settlement with insurance companies GEICO and Travelers over alleged legal violations related to cybersecurity incidents.