somebody hacked the wizard event...morrison mahoney llp the big event 2016 mock trial presentation...

Morrison Mahoney LLP The Big Event 2016 Mock Trial Presentation

Somebody Hacked the Wizard: A Data Breach at the Emerald City Insurance Agency

The Emerald City Insurance Agency is a moderate-sized insurance brokerage in Springfield,

Massachusetts. Emerald City handles both personal lines and small commercial business

policies.

Emerald City is owned by Tim Mann, an experienced broker. Tim is known in the area for

his love of hiking and camping, a real woodsman. But he is also something of a

technophobe, preferring a campfire to a Kindle Fire.

To address technology issues, Tim hired Oswald (“Oz”) Morgan as the IT Director for

Emerald City. Oz was responsible for setting up the Agency IT system, and remains

responsible for monitoring and maintaining it, including firewalls and data protection. He

is affectionately referred to at Emerald City as “the Wizard”.


Glinda Goodwich works for Emerald City as a customer service representative. She has

been there for over 7 years. Other than her over-fondness for pink organza, she fits in well

at the office and is considered a valued employee.

Dorothy Gust owns a small former farm in Westfield, Massachusetts, where she lives and

runs an all-natural candy company called The Gilded Lollipop. She manufactures all of her

company’s products in one of the former out-buildings on the farm with the help of a group

of trusted workers who call themselves the Lollipop Guild.

The property next door to The Gilded Lollipop is owned by Alana Gultch, a particularly

cantankerous individual. She seemingly has nothing better to do than to bike around town

looking for things to complain about. She has filed so many complaints that behind her

back Town employees call her the Witch of Westfield.


Ms. Gultch filed a civil suit against The Gilded Lollipop, alleging that it was operating in an

area not zoned for manufacturing, and the sweet smell from the factory was a nuisance.

Unfortunately for Dorothy, the court agreed with the zoning argument and ordered the

Gilded Lollipop to cease manufacturing operations.

In order to avoid losing her business, Dorothy had to drastically cut her expenses while she

looked for a new place to operate. She laid off all of her works and ceased payment on all

expenses, including her insurance. She then proceeded to negotiate with her equipment

lender for a forbearance while she relocated her business and got it up and running again.

However, her lender would only agree to a brief, 30 day grace period.

Dorothy immediately went looking for a new location. She found a suitable facility not far

away, in Easthampton, Massachusetts. It had been damaged from the tornado a few years

earlier, but it was the best she could do given the limited time she had. She promptly

signed a lease and then went to Emerald City to arrange for new insurance.

Dorothy met with Glinda to go over the insurance needed for the new location. While they

were making those arrangements, they discussed Dorothy’s predicament of having to get

everything moved to the new location and up and running, so the Gilded Lollipop could

fulfil orders and not default on its debts.

Glinda suggested that Dorothy contact Lee Lyon of Flying Monkey Movers to handle the

move to the new facility. Glinda indicated that the company had been around for a long

time, that it did work for a number of Emerald City customers, and that she was sure it

would do the move at the best price. Glinda did not tell Dorothy that Lyon was her brother,

or that his business was in financial trouble.


Dorothy met with Lyon regarding the move. She explained that in order to get into her new

building and be running in time to make her next orders, she had to be fully moved within

14 days. She needed a company that was fully licensed and insured, because she had no

coverage due to the stoppage of her manufacturing. Lyon indicated that he was fully

licensed and insured, providing a certificate of insurance. He indicated that if Dorothy

purchased the Ruby Slipper Package, his company would pack, load, ship, and deliver the

equipment in the time frame needed.

Lyon had a hard time finding workers willing to do the job at his low wages. As a result, he

delayed doing the move until the last day, which was particularly windy. In a hurry, Lyon

and his crew failed to properly secure the cargo containers to the trailer. As Lyon drove to

the new location, the trailer swayed excessively. Believing the highway to be too exposed,

Lyon decided to exit and complete the journey using local roads. Not familiar with the

area, Lyon ended up on a dark road with sections of painted cobblestones. The truck

exceeded the weight limit for this yellow brick road, but Lyon decided to proceed anyway.

Whether because of the wind, the uneven pavement, or the failure to secure the load, the

container carrying the Gilded Lollipop’s equipment slid off the trailer (nearly crushing a

strange woman wearing striped socks and bright red shoes). Lyon and his crew managed

to get it back on the trailer, but the contents were destroyed. Lyon didn’t arrive at the

facility until after midnight. He then unloaded the containers and left them in the parking

lot.


The following day Dorothy arrived to discover her damaged equipment. She called Lyon,

who would not answer. She then called the insurance broker who issued Flying Monkey’s

certificate of insurance, the Otto Terrier Agency, to report a claim. Dorothy spoke with one

of the producers, told her that the certificate was a forgery, and Flying Monkey’s coverage

had lapsed months ago.

Dorothy tried to reach Lyon, but he avoided her calls (the coward). Facing the potential

loss of her business, Dorothy sent Lyon a demand letter indicating that unless he replaced

all of her equipment immediately, she would not only proceed with a civil suit, she would

report him to state and federal authorities. When Lyon received the letter he tried to call

Dorothy to see if she would agree to work something out. However, he only had her

business contact information, and the receptionist at the Gilded Lollipop would not put him

through to Dorothy.

Not surprisingly, Lyon panicked. He visited his sister at Emerald City. Lying to Glinda, he

said that the delays in getting the move done were Dorothy’s fault. She rushed them to

load and move on the same day, and then forced them to take shortcuts to get to the new

location under threat of non-payment. Now, she was trying to blame him for the loss and

was threatening him with criminal prosecution if he contested her claim. He just needed to

contact her to get her to recant the false allegations she was making, but she was not

taking his calls. Lyon asked his sister to give him Dorothy’s personal contact information

so he could try to convince her not to pursue the matter. Glinda hesitantly obliged, and

used the Emerald City computer database to access Dorothy’s file.


This gave Lyon an idea - he would try to trick Dorothy into dropping the matter. Later that

day, Lyon guessed Glinda’s login and password (which were simply her name and the word

“pink”) to remotely “hack into” the Emerald City computer system. Once in the system,

there were no restrictions on the customer information Lyon was able to view. For

instance, he was able to obtain medical records from a prior auto accident claim and

financial information about The Gilded Lollipop from its insurance applications.

Lyon provided Dorothy’s information to a friend of his, Ray “Scarecrow” Bludger.

Scarecrow got his nickname because he was extremely thin and friends often said he had

a head filled with straw. Based on the information Lyon provided, Scarecrow believed that

he could scare Dorothy into dropping her claim.

Scarecrow telephoned Dorothy posing as a State Police investigator. He indicated that

there were a number of irregularities in her charges against Lyon. Then, he stated that if

she insisted on proceeding, the State Police would be forced to conduct an investigation

into her. He used her prior claim and financial information to suggest that they had

already been doing so. He concluded by indicating that such an investigation was certain

to take quite some time, and that no bank or business would work with her while that was

ongoing, and this would certainly result in her having to declare bankruptcy. He told her to

think it over and then hung up.

Dorothy was hysterical. The threat of loss of her business, an unwarranted investigation,

and damage to her reputation caused her extreme anxiety and depression. She was

essentially ready to give up her claims against Lyon when her Auntie Elle suggested that


she call the State Police investigator to see what issues supposedly had arisen. When she

did so, she was told that no one from the State Police had contacted Dorothy.

The matter was turned over to an investigator from the State Attorney General’s office,

Detective Wupperman. Wupperman traced the fake call to Bludger, who promptly

implicated Lyon. The investigator then connected Lyon to Glinda, and figured out where

the information about Dorothy came from. Glinda was fired, and Lyon and Scarecrow pled

guilty to charges of conspiracy, intimidation and witness tampering.

Dorothy has now brought claims against Emerald City, alleging that it was negligent in the

protection of her personal information.

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