Federal Trade Commission Has Set New Data Management Regulations

The United States Federal Trade Commission has always had a set of guidelines that dictate the way that non-banking financial institutions manage and protect data. In 2023, however, the FTC officially put a set of amended Safeguards Rules in place that do a better job of covering modern computing and data protection. The aim is to encourage these organizations to actively do more to protect the individual personal and financial data they have on file. 

What are FTC Safeguards?

The FTC Safeguards Aims to Promote Strong Data Privacy Practices

The rules and regulations that make up the FTC’s Safeguards are designed to protect sensitive information of all types from unauthorized access. These include personal data, financial information, health data, and more. While banking institutions are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), non-banking financial institutions such as mortgage providers, insurance companies, and any organization that allows for financing operates under the FTC’s purview and needs to meet the updated criteria of their Safeguards Rule.

Components of Organizational Data Security

To Stay Compliant, Organizations Need to Accomplish These Actions

To stay compliant to the FTC Safeguards Rule, an organization will need to do the following:

Thorough Risk Assessment

Under FTC guidelines, businesses are required to conduct a thorough risk assessment to identify potential vulnerabilities and risks associated with consumer data. This assessment helps businesses develop appropriate security measures tailored to their specific needs.

Encrypt Data at Rest and In Transit

Encryption plays a crucial role in safeguarding consumer data. FTC safeguards recommend the use of strong encryption algorithms to protect data both at rest and in transit, ensuring that even if the data is compromised, it remains unreadable and unusable.

Control Authorized Access

Implementing robust access controls is essential to restrict unauthorized access to consumer data. This involves assigning unique user IDs, strong passwords, and implementing multi-factor authentication to verify the identity of users accessing sensitive information.

Comprehensive Employee Training

Human error is one of the leading causes of data breaches. By providing comprehensive training and raising awareness about data security best practices, businesses can empower their employees to handle consumer data responsibly and mitigate the risk of accidental data leaks.

Our team can help you build a comprehensive plan to keep your data secure. If your organization is considered a non-banking financial institution and needs help staying compliant to any of the regulations your business operates under, give the knowledgeable IT experts at The Connection, Inc. a call at 732-291-5938.

Advanced Email Protection

With the world becoming evermore interconnected, email communication is growing exponentially. Phishing attacks, fraudulent messages, and unwanted advertisements are becoming more and more prevalent in the modern world. According to statistics published by statista.com, spam emails were the most common attack vector for cybercriminals in 2021. Do not let spam bring your business down. With Advanced Email Protection, we offer a multilayered approach to protecting your emails: 

Stay Secure Next-Gen Threat Detection and Remediation

Managed and maintained software solutions

It’s hard to have both security and privacy. Usually one has to be compromised in order to work thoroughly. Furthermore, the immense amount of time and effort it takes to keep security solutions like antivirus, firewalls, and so on, up to date is overwhelming at best-especially for small and medium-sized businesses with limited technology budgets.

With our Security as a Service offering, your business can fully leverage enterprise-level technology solutions, without the time and expenses it takes to effectively manage and maintain them yourself. By outsourcing this responsibility to trained IT professionals, you get the peace of mind that you deserve, without the pains of managing and maintaining your security solutions.

Asset Tracking

Managing your business’ assets provides several key benefits.

For the modern business to maintain efficiency, choosing the right software to fit your needs is more important than ever. As a result, many organizations look to piece together a comprehensive software strategy using several technologies. For the business that has a lot of moving parts, asset tracking software, as a part of a larger asset management strategy, can bring enhanced efficiency to what can be a very difficult-to-manage situation.