Photo of Linn Foster Freedman

Linn Freedman practices in data privacy and security law, cybersecurity, and complex litigation. She is a member of the Business Litigation Group and the Financial Services Cyber-Compliance Team, and chair’s the firm’s Data Privacy and Security Team. Linn focuses her practice on compliance with all state and federal privacy and security laws and regulations. She counsels a range of public and private clients from industries such as construction, education, health care, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, utilities and critical infrastructure, marine and charitable organizations, on state and federal data privacy and security investigations, as well as emergency data breach response and mitigation. Linn is an Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Cybersecurity at Brown University and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Roger Williams University School of Law.  Prior to joining the firm, Linn served as assistant attorney general and deputy chief of the Civil Division of the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Rhode Island. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University School of Law and her B.A., with honors, in American Studies from Newcomb College of Tulane University. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Read her full rc.com bio here.

On September 26, 2023, Windows released a configuration update on Windows 11 version 22H2  (all editions) that is worth reading and applying, particularly if you use Windows Copilot.

According to Microsoft, it has identified that when using Copilot in preview:

  • Narrator does not work as you expect with challenge–response tests, such as Captcha.
  • Narrator fails

The FBI and CISA issued a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory “#StopRansomware: Snatch Ransomware” on September 20, 2023. The Advisory outlines the indicators of compromise and observed tactics, techniques, and procedures of Snatch so organizations can identify, mitigate, and respond to an attack using the Snatch ransomware variant.

Snatch has been hitting the Defense Industrial Base (DIB)

We have been keeping a keen eye on the explosion of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and generative AI. We are assisting clients with Governance Programs to formulate a process to evaluate the use of AI in their organizations, encourage safe and reliable use of AI tools by employees, evaluate appropriate uses of

VMware provides multi-cloud services, products, and solutions for its customers, including VMware Tools. On September 1, 2023, VMware released a security update for a vulnerability in VMware Tools. According to the Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), “A cyber threat actor can exploit this vulnerability to obtain sensitive information.”

In the alert, CISA “encourages users

I was talking to a client today about a security incident and the discussion turned to how threat actors are using increasingly more sophisticated ways to attack individuals and companies. She lamented that we know more than the average individual about how they implement attacks, but she worries about her mother, who is frequently online.

On August 22, 2023, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued four more advisories related to industrial control systems. The advisories are applicable to four different industrial control products, explain the risk of the vulnerability (e.g., “successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow an attacker to compromise availability, integrity, and confidentiality of the targeted