On May 1st, Washington State passed robust new customer data breach regulations that reduce the time companies have to respond breaches and what they determine to be private. Here’s what this new legislation means for your company.

HB 1071 shortens the time window after a security data breach that a company has to inform its affected customers from 45 days down to only 30. If the threat is not detected and communicated to all the affected customers within that time, your company is at risk of lawsuits and legal penalties.

Additionally, the new law expands the list of personally identifiable information (PII).

The previous list of PIIs only included information on Social Security, driver’s license, financial accounts, and state ID numbers. The list has tripled to include military ID numbers, student ID numbers, birth dates, health insurance information, medical histories, passport ID numbers, username-password combinations, and biometric data. This places added importance on ensuring early detection of threats and added protection.

What this means for your business

Tech Masters suggest these three ways to protect your company given these new regulations:

1. Risk Intelligence software can scan all the devices on your network for personally identifiable information and report to clients if their data is compromised.
2. Website blocking software can prevent computers from going on risky sites which could expose data. It also helps prevent malware from “calling home” and sending data to criminals.
3. Installing UniFi network equipment has IDS (Intrusion Detection System) which notifies when a breach occurs early on, giving your company more time to handle the breach and communicate it to the affected customer.

Using the above will help your company protect your customers’ sensitive data and reduce the risk of lawsuits and legal penalties given the new requirements of HB 1071. Of course, if you don’t want to worry about the technical issues and just want to focus on running your business, Tech Masters can take care of everything for you. Just ask about our managed IT services.

If you have questions about this new law, please reach out!