Aloha Bar Members,

We passed the halfway mark for the year; I hope all is well!

This month, we join the American Judicature Society in thanking the Hawaiʻi State Legislature for passing, and Governor Green for signing, HB1916 into law as Act 187. The HSBA Board supported this bill, which prohibits protected personal information of certain public officials, including judges, from being posted on the internet. According to Act 187, “The legislature finds that across the country, elected state and local officials, judges, election officials, school board officials, and other public servants in decision-making positions that directly impact the public or an individual have experienced an alarming increase in acts of violence, or attempts to engage in acts of violence, at their personal residence or the residence of a family member.” This bill is part of the State Judiciary’s larger effort to ensure our courts are safe for the public, lawyers, and judges.

Earlier this month, you received an email from HSBA about a recent email purporting to be from me, but using an email address that was not mine. Unfortunately, this kind of phishing is not unique. Security Magazine recently reported "an increase in malicious emails by 341% in the past six months." This increase includes (1) BEC attacks, where cybercriminals take advantage of a seemingly legitimate email address to trick the recipient into taking a certain action; (2) Phishing, where cybercriminals deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware; and (3) other message-based attacks driven by generative AI. Harvard Business Review reports that "unfortunately for both companies and employees, gen AI tools are rapidly making these emails more advanced, harder to spot, and significantly more dangerous."

After the recent spate of phishing/spoof emails circulated to HSBA members, HSBA staff reached out to other state bar associations and found that several had been affected by the same email around the same time. Mahalo to our executive director, Cathy Betts, and her team at HSBA for quickly getting the word out to our members. Importantly, the HSBA team does not believe HSBA’s systems have been compromised. It is likely that cybercriminals get member information from publicly available sources like court documents, firm websites, or the HSBA online directly and use that information for their schemes. The most important thing you can do is not reply to these emails, and if you have any questions, call the HSBA office. Please visit the Federal Trade Commission's website on How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams for information on how to protect yourself.

In other news, here’s a data point for contemplation. In Hawaiʻi’s last general election in 2022, turnout was 48.7% of all registered voters. In the recent vote on who will represent HSBA on the Judicial Selection Commission, turnout was 12.55% of all eligible HSBA voters.

In more positive news, please join us for the HSBF x HSBA Pau Hana on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, at The Pacific Club. Monies raised go toward providing legal services to those in need. A big mahalo to the firms and organizations that have already donated!

Mahalo, and be safe.