Data Security Bill goes National

#141 Here is the first data security bill in the US to go national. That's really a sign of the times for the security industry isn't it?

Businesses would have to protect credit-card accounts and other sensitive consumer information and notify them when they have been exposed to identity theft, under a National bill approved today by a Senate committee.The vote marks the first time Congress has taken steps to improve data security following a string of breaches that have exposed some 50 million consumers to possible identity theft.

Dozens of retailers, universities, banks, data brokers and other institutions have disclosed breaches this year, ranging from attacks by malicious hackers to losses of backup tapes during transit to storage facilities (see CardSystems breach renews focus on data security). The announcements were prompted by a California state law that requires institutions to make such data breaches public. Seventeen states have since passed similar laws, prompting banks and other businesses to ask Congress to set a single national standard.