Cyrus Vance Jr.

Partner (New York) and Global Chair of Cybersecurity
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Cyrus Vance Jr. is a partner in Baker McKenzie's North America Litigation and Government Enforcement Practice as well as the Firm's Global Investigations, Compliance & Ethics Practice. He is based in New York and serves as Global Chair of the Cybersecurity Practice.
Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Cyrus served three consecutive four-year terms as Manhattan District Attorney. In this role, he oversaw a team of more than 600 prosecutors handling landmark criminal prosecutions and more than 100,000 cases each year, including investigations and prosecutions of complex, high-profile white collar and business crimes both in the US and internationally, coordinating with global crime-fighting partners including City of London Police, Paris Prosecutors’ Office, Singapore Attorney General, Europol, and Interpol.
Cyrus is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Throughout his career, he has been a visible and vocal advocate on a range of justice issues. He is a sought-after speaker and author, and has testified multiple times before the US Congress and state agencies.

Speech title & Synopsis

Cybersecurity in Healthcare Sector

With the booming of cyberattacks, data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents worldwide, cybersecurity has been one of the top concerns for all industries. Cybersecurity incidents involve financial, operational and reputational damage, and they are becoming more frequent. For example, ransomware attacks saw a 13% increase last year, with a move towards more sophisticated methods. The sensitivity and value of health data increases its attractiveness as a target, the impact on individuals and organizations if an incident occurs, and the rigor of the privacy and security measures required to protect it.
According to the surveys in Baker McKenzie's "The Year Ahead - Global Disputes Forecast 2023", more than half of respondents in Healthcare and Life Sciences industry are concerned about cybersecurity/ data disputes in the coming year. These figures are both up from last year’s survey. Class actions against healthcare organizations for data breaches continue to rise. There is also a more widespread concern: digital transformation has reached all corners of the industry but regulations and regulators have not yet caught up.
Cyber incident response brings considerations that are quite different to other sectors. Ensuring continuity of operations may be essential to avoid risk to life. The threshold for notification of a breach may be more easily triggered for sensitive health data, and notifications under multiple regulatory regimes are likely. Cyber intrusions with IP theft objectives are particularly likely in this sector, and require a very different approach.
In light of such growing cybersecurity concerns, Anna Hwang and Cyrus Vance will introduce the latest cybersecurity trends internationally and share the experiences in Baker McKenzie's leading cases in healthcare sector with key takeaways.