Alfa Bank threatens Indiana University researcher with a lawsuit related to his work analyzing
its server's attempted communications with the Trump organization.
https://www.cyberscoop.com/alfa-bank-l-jean-camp-donald-trump-cfaa-suit-dns-data/
A Russian bank under investigation for possible ties to the Trump Organization has threatened at least one security researcher with a lawsuit over the dissemination of data that point to a server connection between the bank and the first familys conglomerate.
In a document obtained by CyberScoop, Alfa Bank notified Indiana University computer researcher L. Jean Camp that its pursuing all available options after Camps research suggested the bank engaged in some form of communication with the Trump Organization. Washington-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis sent the letter on the banks behalf on March 17.
Among the options listed is litigation under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Acts civil action provision, which allows companies to sue for damages in the event of unauthorized computer access. Foreign entities can bring cases to U.S. federal courts under a CFAA provision that allows private causes of action.
Camps research has pointed to Alfa Banks servers making an unusually high amount of DNS lookups to Trump Organization servers, particularly during a period of time in the summer of 2016. The possible connection was first revealed in October by Slate, but the bank claimed the most likely explanation was spam marketing due to bank executives use of Trump hotels.
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