This is the second part of a four-part series looking at U.S. information security laws and the way those laws affect security professionals. In the first part of this series, we looked at the legal framework for protection of information systems and the role of information security professionals in the creation of trade secret interests. In this installment, we will look at the legal framework for security of an enterprise's working environment from the perspective of information security professionals, with particular emphasis on the protection of communications.

Of course, protecting communications necessarily depends on the security of the systems used to transmit and store them. Drawing a rigid line between protecting systems and protecting communications might not always be useful or possible. That said, for our discussion, treating the protection of communications separately from the protection of systems illustrates how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S.C.§ 1030 (the "CFAA"), and the Electronic Communications Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-22 and §§ 2701-12 (the "ECPA"), two critically important federal information security statutes, work together.

[ Read more ]