The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, pursuant to the authority granted to it by G.L. c. 93H, in November 2009 promulgated 201 CMR 17:00, a regulation setting standards for the protection of personal information of Massachusetts residents. The Division of Standards reminds all of its licensees about their obligations under this regulation and the March 1, 2010 deadline for full compliance.
Any person that receives, stores, maintains, processes or otherwise has access to personal information acquired in connection with employment or with the provision of goods or services to a Massachusetts resident has a duty to protect that information. A "person," for purposes of the regulation, may be an individual, corporation, association, partnership or other legal entity. Personal information includes a surname, together with a first name or initial, in combination with one or more of the following three data elements pertaining to that person: Social Security Number; driver's license or state-issued identification card number; or financial account or credit or debit card number, with or without any other data element, such as a code, password, or PIN, that would permit access to the person's financial account.
The duty includes the requirement that the person develops and maintain a comprehensive written information security program ("WISP") to safeguard such information.  If the person electronically stores or transmits personal information, the WISP must include a security system covering the person's computers and any portable and/or wireless devices.    (More Info)

BAESIS Manage-IT

Businesses continually find themselves driven to use technology on a daily basis and this technology grows in complexity on a daily basis as well. Technology needs impose risk and often pull companies away from their core responsibilities of providing products and services that bring value to their markets and dollars to their bottom line. Poor planning can adversely impact your business operations. BAESIS, with its 40+ years of experience in technology markets, knows that there really three key areas for concern. These are: TIME lost trying to understand and make use of what you have and what you may need to stay competitive. RISK of your systems (and business) shutting down due to inadequate resources to support what you have. MONEY lost from your bottom line due to no business continuity/disaster recovery plan or uncontrolled costs .