An article published by the Institute of Public Accountants has drawn attention to the government’s recently introduced Notifiable Data Breach scheme, stating it will have big consequences on small businesses and accountants.
The passage of the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Bill 2016 – to commence on 22 February 2018 – will require the mandatory reporting of breaches in organisations to the Privacy Commissioner as well as affected individuals or face hefty fines. Failure to notify could result in civil penalties including fines of $340,000 for individuals and $1.7 million for companies.
The article goes on to predict that this legislation will push businesses to improve their current cyber security plans. This legislation will ensure every organisation has a focus to ensure duty of care to protect their customers in a cyber context.
Business need to start to place an emphasis on cyber security by developing situational awareness on what threats and risks exist, before developing a clear cyber governance plan.
Click here to read the full article.
