State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

New York's First-in-Nation Cyber-Regulations to Take Effect March 1

Governing: New York state on Thursday announced final regulations requiring banks and insurers to meet minimum cyber-security standards and report breaches to regulators as part of an effort to combat a surge in cyber crime and limit damages to consumers. The rules, in the works since 2014, followed a series of high-profile data breaches that resulted in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. companies, including Target Corp , Home Depot Inc and Anthem Inc. They lay out unprecedented requirements on steps financial firms must take to protect their networks and customer data from hackers and disclose cyber events to state regulators. "These strong, first-in-the-nation protections will help ensure this industry has the necessary safeguards in place" to protect businesses and clients "from the serious economic harm caused by these devastating cyber-crimes," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

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