The office of New York Attorney General (AG) Eric Schneiderman recently released some sobering news regarding the state of business data breaches in the Empire State:

Through May 2, the AG’s office received a total of 459 data breach notifications compared to the 327 received at this time in 2015. This represents a YoY increase of 40 percent.

By the end of this year, the AG is expecting to receive over 1,000 notifications, which would be a new record.

Under the New York State Information Security Breach & Notification act, companies are required to notify not only the AG’s office, but also consumers, in the event of a data breach, and may now do so electronically using the Web.

Suffice to say, the uptick in registered data breaches is a major problem for New York consumers and businesses alike. Even scarier is the fact that many data breaches will go undiscovered and/or unreported, meaning the problem could be much larger than anyone realizes.

To Schneiderman’s credit, the AG has been vocal about overhauling New York State’s current information security law. According to the AG’s website, Schneiderman in 2015 proposed legislation that would increase the scope of the total amount of information that companies would be required to protect. The bill would also offer incentives for businesses to better safeguard data. Plus, it would require organizations to implement stronger physical and technical security measures.

As of right now, it’s unclear as to where the bill currently stands in the legislative process. We reached out directly to the AG’s office for further insight on the matter, but at this point we have not received a response.

In the meantime, you as a New York business owner shouldn’t wait for an incentive or a law to get serious about protecting your customers’ digital information. Be proactive about the situation, so that your business doesn’t have to endure the pang of having to fill out a data breach notification form.

Apex Technology Services of New York City and Fairfield County can provide you with the critical network services that you need to protect your customers. With the help of Apex Technology Services, you can mitigate the risk of a costly data breach.

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