GermanoLawLLC provides client-focused counsel and assistance regarding cybersecurity and data privacy concerns. We help companies understand, prepare for and address internal and external cybersecurity threats as part of an enterprise risk management plan. We also provide legal and strategic counsel for effectively managing a crisis when a potential data breach or loss of sensitive information occurs.

GermanoLawLLC advises senior executives and corporate boards on a range of issues, including regarding corporate governance; managing and assessing risk; determining whether and how best to collaborate with law enforcement; conducting tabletop exercises and briefings; and coordinating internal and external cybersecurity resources to maximize results.

Recognized by Directors & Boards magazine as a “cybersecurity expert,” Judith Germano provides companies, senior executives and board members with legal and strategic advice regarding cybersecurity, data privacy, fraud and regulatory-compliance matters. Judith is a seasoned attorney with a proven track record of success, who spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, worked at a major, multi-national law firm, and clerked for federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and in the U.S. District of Connecticut. Judith has signficiant experience handling sophisticated and highly sensitive matters on a wide range of issues. She has led teams of experienced attorneys and investigators working on complex, challenging and high-stakes international and domestic matters involving fraud, national security and corruption.

Judith founded GermanoLawLLC in 2013 to provide high-level cybersecurity and data privacy counsel to corporate clients seeking a nimble response specifically tailored to each client’s needs. Judith can work independently, in partnership with existing advisors and vendors, or can quickly assemble and coordinate a talented team of specialists to help prevent, detect, manage and respond to cyber incidents.

GermanoLawLLC can counsel and assist clients regarding a range of cybersecurity issues, including:

• managing enterprise risk and improving cybersecurity governance;
• counseling and educating board members, executives and employees;
• developing and leading tabletop exercises and crisis management scenarios;
• responding to incidents involving a data breach or loss of information;
• creating and implementing incident response plans, policies, best practices and internal/external controls;
• advising on data privacy and disclosure obligations, reviewing and updating privacy policies;
• assessing and handling insider threats;
• directing internal investigations;
• addressing reputational concerns;
• advising regarding third party and supply chain risk management;
• collaborating with law enforcement and other public and private resources.

As a Senior Fellow on Cybersecurity and Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, Judith Germano stands at the cutting-edge of cybersecurity research impacting both the private and public sectors. She leads a cybersecurity task force of senior executives and government officials focused on identifying and addressing emerging cybersecurity concerns of law, policy, business and strategy. She also created and teaches NYU School of Law’s first cybercrime course.

Some of GermanoLawLLC’s representative matters include:

• Counseling Fortune 100 financial services company regarding cyberfraud incident response.
• Advising Fortune 50 company in healthcare sector on Internet-based investigations and collaborating with the U.S. government.
• Advising a national data management platform in responding to a security incident involving a large amount of highly sensitive records and data.
• Developing security incident plans and policies for a Fortune 250 media industry company.
• Advising technology company regarding data privacy policy and issues.
• Conducting tabletop exercise and board-level briefing for critical infrastructure entity.
• Advising global non-profit regarding cybersecurity risk management.
• Advising executive leadership team of internationally known organization regarding data privacy governance, including privacy policies, programs and strategy.
• Presenting to corporate board regarding cybersecurity and privacy risk and strategy.
• Representing online education provider and its founder/CEO in federal government investigation and related civil action.
• Representing CEO of online social networking start-up in federal and state regulatory matters.
• Securing dismissal of corporation and CEO who were named as defendants in securities fraud class action litigation involving the technology sector.
• Providing counsel in financial services sector regarding internal investigation and alleged Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) violations.
• Advising corporate and government executives and other individuals based in New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, and the Midwest, in various matters including: internal investigations; federal grand jury matters; and matters pending before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Treasury Department (OFAC), New Jersey Bureau of Securities, New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, and elsewhere.

As a federal prosecutor, Judith:

• Worked closely with the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Treasury Department (including IRS-CID), and other federal and state agencies.
• Supervised major, international data breach investigations, including the largest data breach prosecuted to date (130 million compromised debit and credit cards).
• Prosecuted and supervised cases regarding theft of intellectual property (including by insiders); cyber-extortion; identity theft and fraud; unauthorized access to protected computers; credit card fraud; export control violations and other crimes.
• Investigated and prosecuted major securities fraud and other financial fraud matters including a $37 million securities fraud case that resulted in the nation’s longest-ever prison sentence for insider trading; and multi-million dollar investment fraud schemes.
• Handled sensitive national security matters including regarding terrorist financing (international money laundering) and counter-proliferation matters (illegal export of national security controlled technology).
• Prosecuted the District of New Jersey’s first criminal case based on evidence obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
• Handled major public corruption matters and was the lead prosecutor in the investigation and prosecution of Sharpe James, the former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and a State Senator.

Recent Publications include:

• “Cybersecurity Partnerships: A New Era of Collaboration” – NYU Law, Center on Law and Security
• “After the Breach: Cybersecurity Liability Risk” – NYU Law, Center on Law and Security
• “Cyberthreat Spawns New Era Of Public-Private Collaboration” –Law360
• “One More Reason for Companies to Report Data Breaches” – Just Security

A Sampling of Speaking Engagements include:

• The Board as Cyber Risk Managers
  Presentation to National Association of Corporate Directors, NJ Chapter Metropark/Iselin, New Jersey
  February 18, 2016
  Judi served on a panel with Bob West, the managing director of Care Works Tech and Former Bank Chief Information Security Officer, moderated by Steven Katz, Board Director and President of Steven Katz & Associates, Inc.
• Confronting the Evolving Cyber Threat
  NYU Center on Law & Security and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of NY
  January 15. 2016
  Judi delivered opening comments at a symposium moderated by Preet Bharara, and sponsored by NYU Center on Law & Security and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of NY.
• Third-Party Cyber Risk
  University Club, NY
  November 5, 2015
  Judi served on a panel discussing third-party cyber risk presented at the University Club.
• Cybersecurity — Before Incident Response
  PLI Corporate Counsel Institute, NYC (and live webcast)
  October 6, 2015
  Judith served on a panel with Laureen Seeger, General Counsel of American Express, and Eric Friedberg, cofounder of StrozFriedberg.  Michael Fricklas, General Counsel of Viacom, moderated the panel.
• Risky Business: Cybersecurity Challenges for the Private Sector
  Washington D.C
  October 1, 2015
  Judith served on a panel discussing cybersecurity challenges for the private sector with Richard Bejtlich, Chief Security Strategist, FireEye, Ellen Richey, Vice Chairman, Risk and Public Policy, and Visa Inc.  Cecilia Kang, National Staff Writer for Media, Entertainment and Technology, The Washington Post, moderated the panel.
• CyberSecurity & Board Oversight
  Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals, NYC
  September 29, 2015
  Judith served on a panel discussing cybersecurity and board oversight with Joel Molinoff, Former Assistant Director of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, Chief Information Security Officer, CBS Corporation.  Austin P. Berglas, Former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of FBI’s Cyber Branch in NY, Current Senior Managing Director K2 Intelligence, moderated the panel.
• Women in Tech, Law & LEADERSHIP
  September 10, 2015
  Judith served on a panel discussing cybersecurity and board oversight with Joel Judith spoke on women in tech, law and leadership.
• HuffPostLive “Hacking the Glass Ceiling”
  July 31, 2015
  Judith Germano appeared on HuffPostLive regarding “Hacking the Glass Ceiling,” helping to get more women and girls into cybersecurity.
• Career Discovery in CyberSecurity, A Women’s Symposium
  NYU School of Engineering, New York, New York
  July 30, 2015
  Judith hosted this full-day (sold out!) conference at NYU School of Engineering. Sponsored by IBM, Intel, Goldman Sachs, ISIS and SANS.
• Security & Privacy, @ the Intersection
  Webinar – SC Congress eSymposium
  May 28, 2015
  Judith delivered the keynote address regarding critical business issues where privacy and security intersect.
• Government Access to Cloud Data: Transnational Issues
  NYU School of Law, New York, New York
  May 27, 2015
  Judith moderated a panel discussion with Nate Jones, Microsoft, James Garland, Covington &Burling, Michael Price, Brennan Center for Justice, Kate Westmoreland, Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Law School, and Mick Stawasz, the Deputy Chief for Computer Crime, Department of Justice.
• Hot Topics in Cybersecurity
  Georgetown Law, Cybersecurity Law Institute, Washington, D.C.
  May 20, 2015
  Judith served on a panel with Michael A. Aisenberg, Principal, Cyber Policy Counsel, The MITRE Corporation, Timothy P. Ryan, Cybersecurity and Investigations Practice, Kroll Associates, Inc. moderated by Luke Dembosky, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice.
• Cyber-Insurance and Corporate Governance:  Facing New Threats
  NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Brooklyn, New York
  April 2, 2015
  Judith moderated a panel discussion with Joseph V. DeMarco, Partner, DeVore & DeMarco LLP, Tom Finan, Senior Cybersecurity Strategist and Counsel, Cameron R. Kerry, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, and Randal S. Milch, Executive Vice President, Strategic Policy Advisor to Chairman and CEO, Verizon.
• Women in Cybersecurity
  New York, New York
  March 10, 2015
  Judith served on a panel with Moira Kilcoyne, Co-Head of Global Technology and Data at Morgan Stanley, and Allison Wikoff, Intelligence Analyst/Security Researcher at Dell SecureWorks moderated by Melody Hildebrandt, Global Head of Cybersecurity at Palantir.
• Cyber-Ethics: Emerging Issues & Evolving Laws
  American Bar Association/NYU School of Law, New York, New York
  Dec. 4, 2014
  Judith served on a panel with Former FBI Director Robert Mueller, Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, moderated by Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Mark Filip.link
• Making the Business Case for Cybersecurity
  Evanta CISO Executive Summit, Hanover, New Jersey
  Dec. 2, 2014
  Judith delivered the Keynote address regarding the importance of, and how to improve, effective internal communication and coordination among senior corporate executives and board members on cybersecurity issues, and matters of public-private collaboration.link
• The Law of Cybersecurity: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
  NYU School of Law, New York, New York
  September 19, 2014
  Judith moderated a panel discussion on “Cybersecurity and the Private Sector” with Leonard Bailey, U.S. Department of Justice, Randal Milch, General Counsel, Verizon Communications,  Daniel Weitzner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michael Vatis, Steptoe & Johnson.link
• Deterrence in Cyberspace: A Collaborative Approach
  Workshop on “Navigating Deterrence: Law, Strategy & Security in the Twenty-First Century”, Abu Dhabi, UAE
  March 19-20, 2014
• What Directors Need to Know: Secure Communications, Board-Level Cybersecurity and IT Risks
  Webinar hosted by Directors & Boards Magazine
  October 2013

Also of note about Judith:

• Appointed (2014-2015) to the Supreme Court of New Jersey’s special committee to examine ethical issues regarding metadata.
• Handled and supervised hundreds of complex, high-stakes federal investigations and prosecutions involving bank fraud, securities fraud, other financial crimes, corruption and cases impacting national security.
• Represented U.S. government at federal criminal trials involving fraud, insider trading, corruption and other crimes.
• Represented corporate board of directors at federal civil trial defending lawsuit alleging breach of fiduciary duty and duty of care.
• Represented a Fortune 50 technology firm on media relations issues – an important component of a cybersecurity incident response plan.
• Previous to attending law school, Judith spent two years working at an international public relations firm, focusing on media relations in the technology and telecommunications sectors, which has proven to be valuable experience in managing a crisis.

 

Download Cybersecurity Details