Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney Announces Launch of Cybersecurity and Data Protection Practice, Adds Former Intelligence Leader of Homeland Security

Pittsburgh, PA—October 23, 2013 – Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC announced today the expansion of its data security practice with the launch of its Cybersecurity and Data Protection Practice Group. With the addition of Jack Tomarchio, former intelligence officer for the Department of Homeland Security, the practice advises clients advice about assessing and responding to cyber security threats, developing company and industry specific policies, procedures to meet customer and government requirements, employee training, and investigation/litigation defense.

Pittsburgh-based shareholders Matthew Meade and Sue Friedberg and Philadelphia-based shareholder Jack Tomarchio will lead the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Practice. The three leaders will leverage varied skill-sets to afford clients a comprehensive approach to data protection. Meade, who organized Buchanan’s Data Privacy and Security group several years ago, has focused on providing counsel related to data security and privacy, breach response and litigation, and information management for more than a decade. Tomarchio, who recently re-joined the firm as a shareholder after spending several years in roles that included national security operations and consulting, has 25 years of diverse business, legal and government experience. He served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence and Analysis Operations with an operational role for classified and unclassified projects in domestic intelligence and counter-terrorism. Friedberg, who has served as the firm’s associate general counsel for the past decade, has more than 30 years of experience and is responsible for Buchanan’s own data security compliance.

“It is increasingly important for businesses across all industries, especially those who are responsible for sensitive consumer data, to have in place a strategy to deal not only with the aftereffects of a cyber attack, but also to prevent threats in the future,” says Meade. “We’ve created the Cybersecurity and Data Protection Practice to address this necessity. Our combined experience ideally positions us to offer customized solutions to our clients so that they are prepared to respond to unauthorized access to confidential company records, especially records containing personal information.”

The annual cost of cybercrime was estimated at approximately $388 billion in 2012, and that number is expected to rise as quickly as technological advancements do around the world. The banking, credit and financial industries comprise roughly five percent of attacks annually and the health care and medical fields constitute nearly forty percent of data breaches.

“With huge sums of money to be made and vast quantities of vulnerable intellectual property and sensitive personal information available, cybercrime has become more lucrative than narcotics trafficking,” says Tomarchio. “In both the personal and private sectors, the security of our information technology networks is of utmost importance. At Buchanan, our aim is to put our combined knowledge to work to help safeguard our clients from this mounting threat.”

About the Firm
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC (www.bipc.com) has more than 450 attorneys and government relations professionals practicing throughout the United States, with offices in California, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. ###