BizTech Law Blog
A drink cooler that doubles as a blender and stereo system. A card game called “Exploding Kittens” for “people who are into kittens and explosions and laser beams and sometimes goats.” A motion picture starring Kristen Bell. These are a few of the inventions and initiatives that have received the most funding on Kickstarter, the popular crowdfunding site.
Kickstarter is an online platform that allows project creators to seek financial backing. If people like a project, they can pledge money to make it happen. Funding on Kickstarter is all-or-nothing - a project must meet its funding goal to receive any money at all.
I have previously written about the tax implications of Kickstarter campaigns here.
While there’s always a risk that a project won’t make it from concept to completion, most backers have an expectation that their monetary pledge will be used in good faith and for its intended purpose.
The recently formed Cybersecurity Unit of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) recently issued guidance regarding best practices for organizations to protect against and respond to cybersecurity risks. The guidance, titled “Best Practices for Victim Response and Reporting of Cyber Incidents,” was drafted with smaller organizations in mind, but has relevance to larger ones as well.
What to Do in Advance of a Breach
The DOJ urges organizations to prepare an incident response plan before a breach occurs, and recommends that an organization do the following:
