Alysa Austin

Cybersecurity Incident Response & Regulatory Investigations

• Represented a national health care organization in one of the largest health care cybersecurity incidents in the United States, advising on breach response, data review, notification strategy, regulatory obligations, and related litigation risks.
• Led large-scale data review and multijurisdictional notification efforts involving millions of records following cybersecurity incidents, including matters affecting hundreds of thousands to millions of individuals worldwide.
• Represented a major financial services company in a high-profile cybersecurity incident involving extensive data review, multiple notification waves, federal and state regulatory reporting, and significant regulatory scrutiny.
• Represented clients in significant third-party and supply chain cybersecurity incidents arising from vendor compromises, managed service provider incidents, and widespread software vulnerabilities.
• Advised health care entities, financial institutions, insurers, and technology companies in complex cybersecurity incidents involving ransomware, business email compromise, unauthorized access, and theft of sensitive information.
• Advised a leading health care organization on the potential disclosure of sensitive information through website tracking technologies and pixels, including analysis of complex data flows, notification obligations, and evolving regulatory guidance.
• Advised a county government in responding to a sophisticated ransomware attack affecting critical operations and sensitive information.
• Represented an investment fund in connection with a novel business email compromise scheme involving unauthorized wire transfers.
• Advised regional and community financial institutions on legal and regulatory obligations arising from payment card skimming incidents and ATM compromises affecting customer account information.
• Represented a large manufacturing company in an attempted ransomware attack, advising on incident response strategy, forensic investigation, legal obligations, and related government inquiries.
• Advised financial institutions, mortgage servicers, fintech companies, insurance carriers, and payment processors on cybersecurity incidents, breach response, privacy compliance, and regulatory obligations.
• Counseled clients through regulatory investigations and enforcement matters arising from cybersecurity incidents and privacy compliance issues.

Alysa Austin advises organizations facing some of their most significant cybersecurity, privacy, and technology risks. Drawing on extensive incident response and regulatory experience, she counsels clients on the legal, operational, and strategic challenges arising from cyber incidents, regulatory investigations, AI governance, data strategy, and emerging technologies.

Alysa regularly guides organizations across health care, financial services, insurance, private equity, communications, retail, and technology sectors through large-scale cyber events and technology-related crises. She helps clients address breach response, regulatory engagement, cybersecurity and data governance, and AI oversight, enabling them to navigate evolving legal requirements, manage enterprise risk, and advance business objectives.

Alysa works closely with leadership teams, in-house counsel, and technology stakeholders to address complex compliance challenges and develop governance frameworks that promote responsible innovation.

With a background in cyber and national security law and prior experience at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Alysa brings a strategic, business-focused perspective to matters at the intersection of law, technology, and innovation.

She is recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in Privacy and Data Security Law.

Bar Admissions

• California
• District of Columbia
• Virginia

Education

• Georgetown University (LL.M., 2015)
• University of San Diego (J.D., 2014)
• Point Loma Nazarene University (B.A., 2009)

Clerkships

• U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, Hon. Robert E. Morin

Memberships