What legal steps should a business in Pennsylvania take to protect their customer's data from cyber attacks?

As a business in Pennsylvania, protecting your customers' data from cyber attacks is critical to operating in compliance with the law and maintaining customer trust. Below are the legal steps you can take to safeguard your customers' data:

1. Identify Applicable Laws and Regulations: You should become familiar with state and federal laws that apply to your business. In Pennsylvania, businesses are required to comply with the Pennsylvania Breach of Personal Information Notification Act (BPINA), and for specific industries such as healthcare, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) may also apply. Familiarize yourself with these laws and regulations to ensure you are in compliance.
2. Develop an Information Security Program: An effective information security program is one of the best ways to protect your customer's data. A comprehensive program should include security policies, procedures, and technical controls designed to safeguard sensitive information. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides guidelines for creating an information security program that can be tailored to your business needs.
3. Conduct Risk Assessments: Regular risk assessments help identify vulnerabilities in your systems and highlight any areas that require additional security measures. A risk assessment can include penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and audits of your security policies and procedures.
4. Encrypt Sensitive Data: Encryption is a highly effective way to protect customer data. Under Pennsylvania law, businesses that maintain personal information must take reasonable steps to protect that information from unauthorized access, unauthorized disclosure, or misuse. For example, if you store sensitive information like credit card numbers, you must encrypt that data to protect it from cyber attack.
5. Develop a Data Breach Response Plan: A data breach response plan should outline the steps your business will take in the event of a data breach. The plan should include procedures for notifying affected individuals, regulators, and law enforcement, as well as steps to investigate and remediate the breach.
6. Train Employees: Employees must be made aware of the importance of protecting customer data and trained on the company's information security policies and procedures.

Some potential limitations or exceptions to this advice include the fact that small businesses may not have the resources to implement all of these measures. In such cases, prioritizing the most critical steps can be helpful. Additionally, the legal advice provided is general in nature, and businesses should consider seeking advice from a licensed attorney to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.

If further action is necessary, businesses should consider engaging a third-party security auditor or consultant to assist with implementing their information security program. Finally, it is important to regularly review & update your security program to stay current with emerging threats and risks.