By: Sam T. Jensen — [email protected]
Des Moines, IA — With the new year, comes new worries regarding data breaches.
Consumer advocate Lara Sutherlin says Iowa business owners need to be prepared to respond to data disasters. “Have a plan in place,” says Sutherlin, “notify consumers… regulators, and law enforcement.”
Last year, the Iowa-based grocery chain Hy-Vee was hit by a data breach that exposed payment information of an unknown number of customers. Faulty malware was revealed to be cause.
Sutherlin says to shut down information from being released to possible hackers, make sure every possible step is taken to ensure data is encrypted and inaccessible to anyone outside of the company.
If somehow an Iowa business is still the victim of a data breach, Sutherlin says to notify customers immediately and not hide the problem. There are penalties for concealing information.