Killware: The New Cyber Threat And What It May Mean For Data Breach And Cybersecurity Litigations

Recent coverage of data breach and cybersecurity litigation has focused on developments concerning Article III standing and inventive Plaintiff's counsel seeking to rely on a cyberattack to bring quintessential consumer pricing class actions.  However, there is a new development looming on the horizon that has received little attention so far: the threat posed by so-called "killware" and what it may mean for data privacy and cybersecurity.

Killware is the newest form of cyber threat, as Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently advised.  It involves hackers maliciously targeting and exploiting the interconnectedness of critical aspects everyday life (think electronic medical devices, infrastructure, transportation networks and the like) for the express purpose of causing individuals serious physical harm.  It can occur through cybercriminals hijacking, for instance, a car and deliberately forcing a malfunction.