Judges

Not long ago in Washington DC, two federal judges addressed the Judicial Conference Committee on the Budget to request additional funding for security. They petitioned for a 7.2% increase in the current Judiciary budget of $8.6 million for investment in IT modernization and cybersecurity.

By now you’ve certainly heard about the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, at their home in San Francisco. Unfortunately such incidents are no longer rare as the divisive nature of our national politics continues to intensify.

In just this current election season, a knife-wielding man attacked Lee Zeldin, a candidate for New York governor; a man tried to assault Senate candidate Don Bolduc at a campaign event, and a gunshot was fired at the family home of North Carolina Congressional candidate Pat Harrigan.

California has been at the forefront of online privacy protection since the state passed a truncated version of the GDPR privacy regulations established by the European Union. These regulations give Californians the right to know what personal information is being collected about them, whether that content is sold or disclosed (and to whom), and the ability to refuse to have that information shared.

From the moment TikTok began its ascent into a social media craze, questions were raised about the security of the data it receives from users, and how that data is being used in TikTok’s country of origin, China. At one time that resulted in government threats to ban the app.

October has been a busy month here as our team of privacy and security experts hit the road for tradeshows in Texas and New Jersey.

MAACM Annual Conference

Our first stop was the 29th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management (MAACM), held in Atlantic City. There we spoke to security leaders for courts in several states, and as a result, many more judges will soon have the peace of mind of knowing that their home addresses and other private information will no longer be easily accessible online.

The ride-hailing service Uber suffered a major data breach not long ago. The company reported that the hacker did not gain access to sensitive user data.

What Qualifies as Sensitive Data?

Usually that refers to credit card information, bank account numbers or social security numbers, all of which can be used to profit by identity theft.

The California Judges Association was established in 1929 and is the professional association representing the interests of the judiciary of the State of California. Members include judges of the Superior Courts and Courts of Appeal, Commissioners of State courts and State Bar Court judges. Recently the CJA held its annual convention in San Diego, and the IronWall360 team from 360Civic was honored to be among the attendees.

The annual Court Leadership and Academy Conference recently concluded three days of meetings and presentations in Anaheim, California. The event was hosted by the National Association For Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers (NAPCO).

You knew it was coming before it happened.

Days after the FBI executed a search warrant on former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence, the judge that approved that warrant began receiving death threats.

Just months after Supreme Court justices found themselves in a similar situation, someone posted the judge’s home address on websites and posted anti-Semitic slurs that resulted in his synagogue canceling Friday night services as a precaution.

The more places that have your home address, the more likely that address will end up in a database that gets shared, purchased, or hacked. A post office box can help limit that exposure – but unfortunately, even here your identity and location are not as secure as they seem.