Call us for peace of mind IT solutions. Lauren Groff Groff NetWorks, LLC  |
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New Security Breach Notification Laws: What You Need To Know
It's Monday morning and one of your employees notifies you that they lost their laptop at a Starbucks over the weekend, apologizing profusely. Aside from the cost and inconvenience of buying a new laptop, could you be on the hook for bigger costs, and should you notify all your clients?
Maybe, depending on where you live and what type of data you had stored on that laptop. Forty-six of the 50 states, plus Washington D.C., Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, have security-breach laws outlining what businesses must do if they expose any kind of client or employee personal information, and practically every single business is directly affected by these laws. (Currently, the only states without such laws are Alabama, Kentucky, New Mexico and South Dakota, but that is likely to change.)
An Emerging Trend In Business Law
Since companies are storing more and more data about their employees and clients, states are starting to aggressively enforce data breach and security laws that set out the responsibilities for businesses capturing and storing personal data. What do most states consider confidential or sensitive data? Definitely medical and financial records such as credit card numbers, credit scores and bank account numbers, but also addresses and phone numbers, social security numbers, birthdays and, in some cases, purchase history-information that almost every single company normally keeps on their clients.
"We Did Our Best" Is No Longer An Acceptable Answer
With millions of cyber criminals working daily to hack systems, and with employees accessing more and more confidential client data, there is no known way to absolutely, positively guarantee you won't have a data breach. However, your efforts to put in place good, solid best practices in security will go a long way to help you avoid hefty fines. The definition of "reasonable security" is constantly evolving, but here are some basic things to look at to avoid being labeled irresponsible:
Managing access. Who can access the confidential information you store in your business? Is this information easily accessible by everyone in your company? What is your policy about taking data out of the office on mobile devices?
IT security and passwords. The more sensitive the data, the higher the level of security you need to keep on it. Are your passwords easy to crack? Is the data encrypted? Secured behind a strong firewall? If not, why?
Training. One of the biggest causes for data breaches is the human element: employees who accidentally download viruses and malware that allow hackers easy access. Do you have a data security policy? A password policy? Do you have training to help employees understand how to use e-mail and the Internet responsibly?
Physical security. It's becoming more common for thieves to break into offices and steal servers, laptops and other digital devices. Additionally, paper contracts and other physical documents containing sensitive information should be locked up or scanned and encrypted.
The bottom line is this: Data security is something that EVERY business is now responsible for, and not addressing this important issue has consequences that go beyond the legal aspect; it can seriously harm your reputation with clients. So, be smart about this. Talk to your attorney about your legal responsibility. Then, to get more information and training on IT security, call us for a FREE security audit at 518-320-8906 or email: support@groffnetworks.com
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Employee Profile:
Meet Erika
Erika Groff was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted at five months old. She grew up in Speigletown (do you know where that is?), the oldest of three girls; her sister, Talia, is adopted from Calcutta, India and their sister, Elke, is a tall blonde (the only biological daughter!). Erika went to public school, private school, then all-girls' Catholic high school before studying anthropology and linguistics at New York University. She reported for the Times Union for several years, wrote about religion for magazines and journals, and then became a mother and part-time staff at Groff NetWorks. Oh, and she's married to the boss, Lauren Groff.
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Win Movie Tickets!
Congratulations to Renee Reid, Design Specialist/IT Coordinator and Executive Partner to the President at The Kaleel Jamison Consulting Group in Troy. She was the first person to correctly answer last month's trivia quiz:
Which two American Presidents were born during the month of October?
a) Lincoln & Jackson
b) T. Roosevelt & Carter
c) Reagan & Clinton
The correct answer is:
b) T. Roosevelt and Carter.
Would you like to win a pair of movie tickets? Be the first to answer this month's trivia question:
Which U.S. President was elected, defeated, then re-elected?
a) Cleveland
b) Washington
c) Jackson
d) Johnson
E-mail us right now with your answer at: trivia@groffnetworks.com
Please note: One prize per entrant per year. Entrants who have won a trivia contest in the last 12 months are ineligible to compete for prizes.
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Are You Performing
Reverse Backups?
Here's an important question for anyone using cloud applications to host important files and data: Are you routinely downloading and backing up a copy of your files to your own servers? If not, you're taking a BIG risk of losing all that data. By now, you should know to backup the data on your PCs and server off-site to the cloud, but what you might not have considered is the practice of downloading your data from critical cloud applications as a security measure against that cloud provider closing their doors, losing your data or simply cutting you off.
True Story: A business colleague hired a new web designer to update her web site. After six months of delays and poor service, she notified the designer that she would no longer need their services. This firm's developer then decided to delete all the web sites she had to get revenge. Apparently, the web hosting company had a "glitch" (as they called it) in their password and security system that allowed this company to gain access to her account after she deactivated their login. Fortunately, her OLD web designer had a copy of her web site, even though it was out of date. This little fiasco caused her web site to be down for a week and cost her thousands in getting the sites back up.
The point is: the more data you host in cloud applications, the more cautious you need to be in keeping a current record of those files in-house; with more and more software companies ONLY offering a hosted or cloud version of their software, you often won't have a choice but to move your systems and data to the cloud. As a second precaution, you should review your cloud provider's policy on closing your account. In some cases, they have all the power and will shut off your access and even delete your data without warning, never to be recovered. That's why it's absolutely critical that you perform "reverse backups" of your data to your server frequently.
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Shiny New Gadget
Of The Month
Roku
www.roku.com/streamingstick
About the size of a large thumb drive, the Roku Streaming Stick allows you to watch TV shows, games and movies on demand via the Internet on your TV.
The Streaming Stick costs as little as $50; for that price, you can create smart TV on the cheap. Simply plug the Streaming Stick into a special port in the back of your TV. The device uses its Wi-Fi connection to set up your service and instantly stream shows on demand via the Internet. With 550-plus free and premium videos, music and game channels from HBO, Disney and Major League Baseball, Roku is becoming the new cable box.
It's predicted that in the next 4-5 years, the bulk of TV and movies will be viewed over the Internet through subscription services like Roku. As you can imagine, Roku has stiff competition with the likes of Apple TV (which leads the market with over 4.2 million devices sold). Google is also getting into the TV streaming game with Nexus Q.
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Lauren's Corner
$$$$ Need Cash? Earn Groff Dollars $$$$
We would like to help your friends and business associates with their IT needs!
Here's how it works for YOU:
For each of your friends that you refer to us (and with whom we schedule an appointment), we will give you $25. If your friend becomes a client, we will give you an additional $50. That's a total of $75!
How it works for your FRIEND:
If your friend becomes a client of Groff NetWorks (and spends a minimum of $1000), we will give them $100 off their first month's service, because they are friends with you.
For more information, call Lori at: 518-320-8906 x105 or email: lhardy@groffnetworks.com
 Office Notes Jonathan Goyette, network technician at Groff NetWorks, is a dad! He and his wife, Whitney, welcomed their first child - a baby boy named Tobias Edward Goyette - on October 22 at 10:30 a.m. He was 8 lbs., 7 oz. and 20 inches long. Congratulations, Jon!!! To see a picture, go to our facebook page: facebook.com/groffnetworks New Client Welcome to our newest client, Ecovative, in Green Island.  |
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Client Spotlight
YWCA of the Greater
Capital Region
We recently spoke to Victoria Baecker, director of development at the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region.
GNW: Tell us about the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region.
VB: Part of our mission is empowering women, so we have a saying of giving our women 365 degrees of support; that means we want to encompass them in a circle - from finding safety to housing to employment to support. Whatever it is they need, wherever they are in their journey, we meet them. For many of our clients, it could be what we think is easy: to get up, get dressed and walk to the grocery store. It's meeting them where they're at and taking them to the next step, whatever that step is.
GNW: How can we help?
VB: Adopt a family this holiday season! You can give a financial donation, adopt a specific family, or buy items* such as diapers, toilet paper, toiletries, twin-size bedding and more... by December 14.
*For a complete list of general donation items or for more information, call Victoria at: 518-273-7100 or send an email to: victoriab@ywca-gcr.org.
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