ZEK, representing among the world’s largest banks, financial institutions and other leadership businesses enterprises today is ranked among the best-of-breed cyber security practices in the U.S.

Cyber issues pose unprecedented legal, regulatory, risk management, technical and reputational threats to businesses worldwide. No longer the sole purview of a corporation’s IT department, cyber security has become an ongoing priority for its general counsel, executive management and even its board of directors. The risks are broad and pervasive, demanding a proven, new level of cross-functional skills and depth of experience from an emerging breed of specialist cyber legal counsel with an uncommon blend of skills.

ZEK, representing among the world’s largest banks, financial institutions and other leadership businesses enterprises today is ranked among the best-of-breed cyber security practices in the U.S. We are recognized for enabling clients to prevail due to our experience in analyzing, clarifying and resolving the complexities of cybersecurity, from anticipation, prevention to response.

Our national and international practice is driven by the most experienced, multi-disciplinary legal team that, in rare combination, brings among the deepest technical, security and operations cyber expertise in the nation. Our specialist legal counsel, also hold degrees, and/or possess skills as: computer scientists, intelligence experts, forensic digital specialists, PhDs or MBAs.

For years we have been on the legal and operational front lines of cyber security in both the U.S. and transnational private and public sectors, having developed sophisticated preventative strategies and problem mitigating solutions for both businesses and governments that safeguard against risk and liabilities as well as network, systems and data threats and attacks. The ZEK team includes the former top cyber official at the National Security Agency (NSA), the former top cyber and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act lawyer at the FBI, and one of the country’s most experienced cyber attorneys who also serves as both the chief of the Journal of Law and Cyber Warfare and is one of the few Cyber e-discovery special masters in the U.S. federal and state court systems.

Our team knows the threat environment first-hand; members of our cyber team have previously been employed in actual corporate operations. Our legal counsel and insights into risks and operational challenges reflect that pragmatic experience. Understanding the stakes and remedies, our team provides the most informed and efficient “all-under-one-umbrella” approach for protection of systems, networks, data and resources, as well as protection against legal, insurance risk and reputation liabilities. ZEK is conversant with the latest key technologies and moves seamlessly among the participants and stakeholders in any cyber security project, for example, from dynamic, not static, cyber upgrades to protection of systems based in the cloud.

This distinctive combination of expertise has enabled ZEK to handle many of the most technically complex and sensitive cyber legal matters to date, ones that are only multiplying and becoming more complex. These challenging matters range from counseling clients and crafting solutions regarding:

  • compliance with government and industry regulatory bodies,
  • data breach notifications/data privacy laws,
  • liaising with local/state/federal government entities,
  • cyber security insurance,
  • support in the c-suite and with boards of directors,
  • litigation arising from lawsuits by customers, employees, shareholders, vendors, joint venture and other corporate partners whose personal data, proprietary information, intellectual property or confidential policies and procedures have been lost, compromised and /or held hostage.

Of necessity, in these instances, the team’s expertise and counsel covers:

  • analysis and diagnostics of cyber policies, practices, training and systems to anticipate and protect against cyber intrusions and other risks,
  • deep experience in how to produce the best outcome after a cyber event and prevent the next one,
  • understanding the strategic and tactical applications of the right technology and its suitability to particular environments, and
  • expertise in the processes and procedures that must be built to systematically address issues from risk and technology assessments to training and monitoring systems.

ZEK also provides specifically designed services in areas including: cybersecurity check-up and review, ensuring that IT, cybersecurity, and physical security “sync up” with a client’s policies, practices and employee and board training. ZEK attorneys have the specialized knowledge to review existing procedures and policies to ensure they are consistent across all areas of a client’s business and reflect best practices and regulatory realities. We are recognized for our abilities in devising, guiding and testing incident response plans (IRP’s) and processes.

Our experienced cyber practitioner-attorneys agree that there is only one way to prepare for the best outcome after a significant cyber event: practicing and testing responses across the entire enterprise, from the boardroom to the mailroom. ZEK provides cost-effective, robust simulations that test the policy, compliance and legal underpinnings of cyber response designed to identify gaps and propose effective refinements. Our review goes well beyond standard IRP’s, focusing on a proactive cybersecurity enterprise that can anticipate problems and threats. In the event of an incident, ZEK has a fully organized, immediately deployable “cyber red team” to coordinate forensic, legal, organizational and communications responses. Our attorneys bring their experience in facing state and non-state actors as cyber adversaries in building client resilience.

Corporate clients should keep in mind that their third party vendors and partners can be the weakest link in their cybersecurity chain. ZEK attorneys are experienced in designing incisive questionnaires and audits to identify gaps in third party access and security practices. We perform the necessary contractual due diligence to ensure that business parties understand and perform their obligations to safeguard clients’ systems and data.

ZEK also maintains a renowned complex litigation practice in support of cybersecurity clients. We have proven success in class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, third party actions and the like.