Florida legislature unanimously passed the Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 (FIPA) on April 30, 2014. The new bill requires specified entities to take reasonable measures to protect and secure data containing personal information in electronic form and for them to notify individuals of data security breaches within 30 days of the occurrence. This bill went into effective on July 1, 2014. Understanding the changes and how it impacts your business is vital.
Due to increasing frequency of cyber security breaches, this statute became a necessity for the state legislature to address the growing concern. Last year alone, corporations experienced a 15 percent increase in average data breach costs – totaling about $3.5 million. The most common, not to mention most costly, type of data breach is a malicious insider or criminal attack.