Understanding the Top 5 Cybersecurity Laws in the US!
There are several laws that indirectly or directly govern the various cyber security measures for any of the businesses. Knowing these laws allows companies to maintain their security and reputations, avoid costly lawsuits, and minimize unnecessary downtime. However, having only legal compliance is not sufficient to secure your company. Companies need to do much more to put themselves in a situation and establish adequate security measures.
That being said, these laws set by the government are necessary for all businesses, whether small, medium, or large. Companies with no security measures are the easiest target. Unfortunately, small businesses are also unable to stand against a big cyberattack and its financial aftereffects because they may not have sufficient resources and time to invest in cybersecurity.
Moreover, companies that deal in healthcare and collect sensitive information about people are required to ensure proper cybersecurity and adhere to government regulations. Therefore, in this post, we’ll provide an overview of US cyber security laws that every company and individual should know about to defend themselves against cyber attacks and how to manage their fallout.
Cybersecurity Regulations That You Need to Follow
There is no single cybersecurity place in the US; thus, companies need to find the category they fall under depending on the number of criteria. This may include the state in which they are operating, the type of data they may handle, if they run an international business, or if their data is stored in some other country.
Below is a brief list of the regulations that companies need to know to check for cybersecurity compliance.
1. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
The Gram-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB Act or GLBA) is also called the Financial Modernization Act of 1999. The purpose of the rule was to permit financial institutions and their subsidiaries to protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information(PII) collected from customer records in documents, electronic records, or any other form. The law mandates companies to comply with stringent policies that manage data security.
As per this law, financial institutions are responsible for protecting their customer's privacy and security of sensitive information against unauthorized access.
To make your company GLBA compliant, you need to develop privacy practices and policies that detail how you collect, manage, sell, share, and reuse customer information. You also need to provide alternative options for customers to decide which information a company can keep for future use.
GLB act is only applied to any non-public companies that process the data provided by the customers to facilitate the transaction or collect it from the institution.
2. Homeland Security Act and FISMA
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) is the United States legislation that describes a structure of policies and safety standards to protect national information technology processes from cyberattacks. This risk management framework was signed into law in 2002 but was amended in 2014.
According to FISMA, federal agencies and other organizations are required to create, record, and execute agency-wide information security programs. These programs are designed to protect sensitive and personal information. The act also explains the accountability of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
In the 2014 amended version of the FISMA, OMB and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency share oversight of the cybersecurity program.
3. Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act
The act allows United States government agencies and nongovernment companies to share information to analyze cyberattacks. Sharing of the information is optional for engaging institutions outside the government.
As of 2024, CISA was legislated to improve the collaboration between the government and private sector to tackle the cyber attack jointly.
4. The Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022
In 2022, the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) was passed by President Biden to improve US cybersecurity. According to this law, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was directed to develop and execute regulations requiring protected organizations to register covered cyber incidents and payment because of ransomware. These reports also allowed CISA to assist the victims suffering attacks and quickly share information to stop such digital assaults.
5. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
HIPAA is the US law that provides guidelines to protect data privacy and security provisions to protect medical information. Apart from this, HIPAA also has two other purposes: to provide continuous health insurance coverage for workers who lost their jobs to reduce the cost of healthcare. Other goals include battling against misuse, fraud, and waste in healthcare insurance.
Conclusion
Going through these United States cybersecurity laws, it is evident that the government is working to introduce strict laws to help organizations safeguard their confidential information from the latest cyber threats. However, cyber attacks still occur despite all the efforts.
Therefore, organizations should take proactive steps to secure their data and software. Cybercriminals are always active and improving their approach. For some reason, organizations should regularly check their system to recognize vulnerabilities and address the flaws instantly.