There’s been a loop hole in the law when it comes to data breaches in the digital age. In late 2017 it was discovered that multibillion dollar, international company ‘Uber’ was found to have had the data from clients compromised – yet the business did not inform their customers of the breach, and just paid the hackers 120K to keep quiet.

You’d want to know if your personal details had been accessed by strangers – right?

 

Hackers can get access to secure data, including personal information such as names, numbers, email addresses and in some cases, credit card details. After watching this occur time again, the Australian Government is no longer allowing this to remain a secret.

MANDATORY DATA REPORTING

Legislation has been passed that has led to the establishment of the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme. This comes into effect on the 22nd February 2018 – only 5 weeks away. The scheme outlines requirements that businesses must follow when responding to data breaches which can occur as a result of a cyber attack.

In summary, businesses must notify each and every individual whose personal information is involved in a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm. The notification has to include the action these individuals should take as a result of the data breach. The Australian Information Commissioner must also be notified of eligible data breaches.

WHO DOES IT APPLY TO?

The Scheme applies to those entities that are covered by the Privacy Act. This includes Government agencies, businesses and not-for-profit organisations that have an annual turnover of more than $3m. It also includes private sector health service providers, credit reporting bodies, credit providers and organisations that trade in personal information and tax file number (TFN) recipients (for example, accountants).

HOW CYBER INSURANCE CAN HELP YOU

Cyber Insurance responds in the event your business has been hacked and covers the costs incurred to respond and manage a data breach.  This includes notification to your clients and managing any reputational damage as a result of the cyber attack. We strongly recommend you give this insurance serious consideration. Premiums are moderately priced and it could save you thousands of dollars… this could be the difference between staying afloat or closing your doors for good.

Don’t get caught after it’s too late, let us help you before the hackers attempt to exploit your data.

– The R&M Team