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13 J. Bus. & Tech. L. 217 (2017-2018)
Cybersecurity Liability: How Technically Savvy Can We Expect Small Business Owners to Be

handle is hein.journals/jobtela13 and id is 233 raw text is: LOREN F. SELZNICK* AND CAROLYN LAMACCHIA* Cybersecurity Liability: How Technically Savvy Can We Expect Small Business Owners to Be? INTRODUCTION Target Data Breach Spilled Info on As Many As 70 Million Customers.' Home Depot's breach could be as big as Target's.' Data breaches at the nation's largest retail companies dominate the news, but small businesses are at greater risk.3 Hackers recognize that small businesses have neither the financial resources nor the technical expertise to protect their data.' Cyberattacks on small businesses intensify, but the law's cybersecurity liability model develops with only the largest corporations in mind.' When the public learns of data breaches at the megastores, its reaction is outrage.6 State regulators are inclined to punish the corporation.! How could the corporation have been so careless with customer information? The hacker behind the breach is presumed to be untraceable and, in any event, too poor to pay for all the @2018 Loren F. Selznick and Carolyn LaMacchia * Dr. Selznick (J.D. Cornell University) is an Assistant Professor of Business Law and Dr. LaMacchia (Ph.D. Nova Southeastern University) is an Assistant Professor of Information and Technology Management at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. 1. Maggie McGrath, Target Data Breach Spilled Info on as Many as 70 Million Customers, FORBES (Jan. 10, 2014, 8:56 AM), https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrathl2014/01/10/target-data-breach-spilled-info- on-as-many-as-70-million-customers/#4b03288be795. 2. Jaikumar Vijayan, Home Depot Breach Could be as Big as Target's, COMPUTERWORLD (Sept. 2, 2014, 1:13 PM), http://www.computerworld.comlarticle/2600309/data-security-home-depot-breach-could- potentially-be-as-large-as-targets.html. 3. Jane Chen, Cyber Security: Bull's-Eye on Small Businesses, 16 J. INT'L BUS. & L. 97, 97-100 (2016). 4. Id. at 100. 5. See id. at 108 (noting that current cyber-security regulations do not discuss the requirements of small businesses prior to a breach). 6. Lauren Zumbach, Massive Equifax Data Breach Prompts Outrage, Investigations, Bills to Ban Credit Freeze Fees, CHI. TRIB. (Sept. 16, 2017, 5:32 PM), http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-equifax-data- breach-0917-biz-20170915-story.html. 7. Id.; see infra notes 199-206. Journal of Business & Technology Law 217

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