Ropes & Gray Investment Management Counsel Comments on the SEC’s Data breach in ACA Insight

The Oct. 16 and Oct. 2 editions of ACA Insight discuss the breach of the SEC’s EDGAR database and the asset management industry’s reaction to the intrusion. “There are two major aspects of the SEC’s cybersecurity and data security challenge,” states investment management counsel David Tittsworth in the Oct. 16 edition.  “One is that it needs to ensure that its cybersecurity programs and processes are as effective as possible. The other is related to the first – can the SEC provide reasonable assurances to investment advisers, private funds, mutual funds, and others who provide tremendous amounts of information to the SEC … that such information will be protected from cyber attacks?” In the Oct. 2 edition, Mr. Tittsworth also highlights that the EDGAR breach could the delay the SEC’s launch of its new Comprehensive Audit Trail (“CAT”) database. The key, Mr. Tittsworth notes, is whether those contributing information to it “can believe reasonable steps are being taken to secure the information.”