Utimaco - The Data Security Company, today announced a series of
efforts to help companies prepare for, and be compliant with, new
encryption legislation mandated by the state of Massachusetts that
will take effect May 1, 2009. Utimaco's ongoing education
campaign-comprised of webinars, live presentations, industry
surveys, free software offers, and compliance counsel-will arm CIOs
and IT managers with knowledge, best practices and new technology
to adjust their security practices to comply with current and
future mandates.
The new legislation, 201 CMR 17.00: Standards for the Protection
of Personal Information of Residents of the Commonwealth, will
require any company doing business in the state, or one that holds
personal data of Massachusetts residents, to encrypt that data on
laptops or other portable devices. The mandate will likely have
national implications, as many organizations have customers or
conduct business within Massaschusetts, even though they may be
headquartered elsewhere. While data breach disclosure legislation
has been in place in many states for some time, encryption-specific
data security laws have only recently become the focus of
lawmakers, with Nevada passing the first encryption law that went
into effect on October 1, 2008. Other states, such as New York and
California, are already considering similar legislation.
A series of initiatives to help companies
comply
To help companies ensure compliance in advance of the deadline,
Utimaco will host a series of presentations in the coming months to
bring clarity to the legislation and provide recommended best
practices. Among the topics that Utimaco will address:
- 201 CMR "101": understanding how your company is impacted by
new rules
- Knowing where your critical data lies and the effectiveness of
your current risk mitigation procedures
- Creating and enforcing a security policy that meets
your data security needs
- Knowing when and how to upgrade data security solutions
- Best practices for encrypting devices and protecting records
that pass through public networks
The first of these presentations will be addressed as part of
Utimaco's ongoing Seminar Series held in conjunction with Microsoft
and Lenovo. The discussion will take place on Thursday, December 4,
2008 at Microsoft's Massachussets office at 201 Jones Road,
Waltham, 8:30am to 1:30pm EST. Seating is limited, register today
to attend. Also in December, Utimaco will survey attendees at the
SC World Congress in New York, Dec. 9-10 at the Javits Center, to
shed light on how prepared today's oragnizations are to comply with
the regulations, and gauge additional regulatory measures they
expect the government to enact.
After SC World Congress, Utimaco will embark on a series of
Webinars, hosted by Utimaco's Head of Product Marketing and
recognized security expert Nagraj Seshadri, to overview how new
technology and stricter corporate security policies can help
organizations comply as the deadline looms. Moreover, Utimaco's
professional services team will offer specific advice to customers
that need help deciphering the mandate and determining their best
path toward compliance.
Bolster compliance with free trial
software
Ahead of the deadline for compliance, Utimaco will offer a free
trial of its SafeGuard data security solution providing companies
with comprehensive encryption on laptops, USB drives and other
removable media that require encryption according to the mandate.
Utimaco SafeGuard products includes easy deployment and intuitive,
tamper-proof endpoint monitoring. Those interested in obtaining a
trial download can obtain more details by visiting www.utimaco.com
"The Massachusetts mandate will no doubt usher in additional
regularly mandates from the state and federal governments, which
have increasingly realized the importance of properly protecting
personal and other confidential data," said Craig Bumpus, COO,
Utimaco Americas. "By preparing in advance and understanding the
issues and actions needed to be compliant, companies can avoid
being overwhelmed as the deadline approaches. Our goal is to help
organizations remain proactive about their security strategies and
continue to provide the best encryption solutions available to meet
ever-changing compliance needs."
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.