Business Survival Workshops Launch to Help Companies Comply with New Personal ID Security Law

July 24, 2009 - PRLog -- The Boston Business Alliance, (www.BostonBusinessAlliance.com),  presented urgent and important information about the new Massachusetts regulation that requires compliance by January 1, 2010.  

The regulation is an outgrowth of numerous personal data breaches including the infamous TJX security breach.

While the regulations are especially important for medical firms and retailers, they apply to ANY business or organization that touches or retains any Massachusetts resident’s personal identity information.  “This includes any electronic or paper records such as credit cards, Social Security numbers, bank accounts, drivers license numbers, or similar,” noted Ray Arpin, a Boston-area business process consultant and member of the sponsoring Boston Business Alliance.  

“The new regulations are very technical and without a proper roadmap a business can soon find itself in deep trouble when there is a breach,” he added.  Fines for non-compliance range from $5,000 to $50,000 per incident. TJX paid over $880,000 to one credit card company. “Many companies may not realize that a single security breach could put a company into bankruptcy at the worst and at the very least result in bad publicity hurting their bottom lines,” commented Len Bloomberg, principal with Blue Coast Consulting and member of the Boston Business Alliance.

The new regulations also require a formal written information security program with policies, processes and procedures that support compliance.  “When the regulation says it applies to ‘any business’ it means just that,” noted Dennis Eagan, an associate with Finnneran & Nicholson, a business law firm with offices in Newburyport and Boston, who will be a co-presenter for this breakfast program.

It includes retailers, any service business, professional practices, accountants, banks, financial institutions, and any individual or organization paid by credit cards or keeps this information stored either electronically or in hard copy. Attorney Eagan added that this regulation goes beyond HIPPA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and is an added requirement for medical practices.

This informational breakfast is designed to help business owners and managers outline a strategy to become compliant with the regulations and reduce risks to their organizations.

Participants in the program will be better prepared to answer the following:
•   What would your business do without credit card processing systems that were shut down by order of the MA Office of Consumer Affairs or Attorney General?
•   What would your business do if your customer/client data were compromised?  
•   Do you or your employees have access to personal client data?
•   Do you have laptops that leave your premises?
•   Have you considered the impact of violations and non-compliance to your professional malpractice premiums?
•   Can your business survive the bad publicity of a single data breach?

Participants will also receive a complimentary One-Hour Personal Identity Security Audit along with a copy of “How to Guarantee Compliance by January 1, 2010” from the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs.

The Hot Business Topics Exchange will present an Informational Breakfast Meeting on the topic, Personal Identity Security, Are You Read for 1/1/2010?, 7:15-9:00 AM, at Medical City Conference Center, 800 W. Cummings Park, Suite 4750, Wobrun, MA.  

For more information, check the website, www.BostonBusinessAlliance.com, for the agenda, speaker bios, and registration.  Seating is limited to the first 50 registrants.  For other questions, please call 617-435-1159 or 978-388-0020.

About Boston Business Alliance:
The Boston Business Alliance (BBA) brings together seasoned, experienced subject matter experts from all business functional areas and areas of expertise to provide timely and valuable information, advice, solutions, and services to small and medium size business (SMB) owners and organization leaders (public and private sectors) – to survive and thrive in the current economic times.

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