In a try to prevent and diminish data loss, the Australian Labour and Liberal parties proposed a mandatory data breach notification scheme. According to this, organizations will have to report eligible data breaches or lost data to the Privacy Commissioner as soon as they become aware of the situation. Even more, they will also have to notify affected customers by publishing a statement on the company website.

The law is also affecting companies that want to store data offshore using Cloud based services so, if you want more details on this topic, take a look at the article we wrote a while back on Privacy Laws.

The main objective of this newly-passed law, which will be in place on 22nd February 2018, is to bring awareness to the organizations that hold and handle personal data. It is also an attempt of holding accountable the entities that don’t attend to their security needs. Sadly, many businesses don’t invest in their cyber security and employ bad practices, thus allowing hackers and ill-intentioned people to breach and steal sensitive data bases.  The new law forces business owners to care more about security – otherwise, in the case of a breach, they risk ruining their reputation in front of customers and collaborator and getting a large fine.

The law requires companies and government agencies to first take preventive measures by increasing and improving their security and second, to report breaches. This way, both individuals and companies will be protected against cyber attacks and they will have the opportunity to establish a level of trust that is required for a good business flow.

This law will have a powerful effect on government agencies and organizations with a turnover of $3 million per year and above. The entities that will refuse to comply will face penalties of up to $360,000 fines for individuals and $2.1 million for organizations and their reputation will be forever affected.
Read the legislation here //www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017A00012

What’s the next step?

If you don’t want to be surprised when the new law will be implemented, talk to us today! Onsite Helper can help you with improving and creating a powerful security system that will fit your budget and your needs. Even more, we’re offering a free onsite or remote IT security assessment that will let you know if your business is safe against data breaches (just fill in the contact form to the right, and a specialist will get in touch).