Last week I received a call from a colleague who runs a computer forensics company. It was a real fire drill.  A client of theirs, hundreds of miles away,  which shall remain un-named, had to fire their IT Director on the spot due to some disturbing allegations.

On that very day, we needed to lock down their network and secure their data.  We changed passwords,  blocked access, discovered and patched holes that could allow this person or others back into the systems if they decided to delete data or do anything else to compromise the company’s assets.

If you are a small business owner who does business in Massachusetts and you have not yet heard of the new Massachusetts data security and privacy laws known as 201 CMR 17, then you need  to get up to speed quickly as this law has gone into effect and the compliance deadline has passed at the end of the first quarter of 2010.  Please be advised that we strongly recommend that you consult with a qualified attorney as well as your IT staff or trusted IT service provider to help you comply with the laws. 

A summary of these new regulations can be found here on the Commonwealth’s web site: 201 CMR 17:00 (PDF)