Canadian Lawyer InHouse

19 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2017 lawyers are looking at whether that might be used in a cyberbreach." Examples of intrusion upon seclusion in a cybersecurity scenario includes Evans vs. the Bank of Nova Scotia, a 2014 case where a bank employee was alleged to have provided customer information to others that resulted in fraud. The case was certifi ed as a class action with leave to appeal the certifi cation decision dismissed. A more recent case, still pending, involves Bell Mobility, where the disclosure of information for advertising purposes has plaintiffs seeking $750 million for intrusion upon seclusion, among other things. Jean-Francois De Rico, a partner with Montreal-based Langlois LLP, said class ac- tion cybersecurity cases will likely depend on whether lawyers can fi nd precedent that puts a high price tag on privacy breaches. "If you can get to predictability — what kind of money can we get out of this — we may see a higher number of class action law- suits," he says. "These fi rst ones are prob- ably going to be very scrutinized and im- portant in order to determine whether the fi rms that do those cases should support the signifi cant fi nancial burdens they have until they get to the end of the day. It's a very fi - nancial, analytic-oriented process." Ahmad believes many will fi nd it worth their while. "It's not like the courts are re- jecting these arguments offhand. They're entertaining them and applying them to other circumstances," he says, adding that the potential for perceived negligence is higher given the army of suppliers, subcon- tractors and other people who come close to customer data in any given organization. "Target is the one I like to use," De Rico says, referring to the massive attack on the retailer a few years ago. "It was one of their smallest solution providers, an HVAC pro- vider, who made the data accessible to hack- ers. That demonstrates that IT security isn't something you can address in a silo or in- dependent of all other activities. It's a hori- zontal issue." It's also an issue that spans not only prob- lems with IT but with people. Ahmad refers to "whaling" attacks where hackers try to impersonate the email of senior executives to dupe administrative assistants. "The weakest link is going to be your staff," agrees Simkevitz. "That is because social engineering techniques have gotten so that they look like normal emails. It's only once you've clicked on that link that the cat's out of the bag." The long-term problems are not limited to class action lawsuits but the scrutiny put on an entire industry. Though there were many cybersecurity horror stories over the course of 2016, for instance, none stands out like Yahoo, which went through not one but two major incidents where millions of its customers' records may have fallen into the wrong hands. That kind of situation would be dire for any major company, but matters were made infi nitely worse based on the timing: Over the course of months where the attacks were disclosed, most of Yahoo was also in the process of being acquired by Verizon. "In the fi rst breach, Verizon said they No two businesses are alike. We get that. You want a law firm that is flexible and can adapt to your particular business needs without compromising service or quality. At Pallett Valo we provide forward-thinking legal counsel designed to respond to each of our client's unique legal matters. That's what we call Right-sized Thinking®. Want a legal solution that's the right fit for you? Call us today to find out more. Legal Service That Fits Any Occasion Right-sized Thinking® • 1-800-323-3781 • pallettvalo.com Your Authority For: Business Law • Commercial Litigation • Commercial Real Estate Construction • Insolvency & Corporate Restructuring Employment & Labour • Wills, Estates & Trusts Untitled-2 1 2017-02-02 2:32 PM

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