Navigating Missouri and Federal Cybersecurity Regulations

As a business owner in Missouri, you have legal obligations to protect the sensitive data of your customers and employees. These obligations are set forth in Missouri state and federal law, and failure to comply can result in significant penalties.

Under Missouri state law, business owners are required to comply with the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA). The MMPA requires businesses to take reasonable steps to protect personal information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. This includes implementing reasonable security measures to protect against unauthorized access to personal information.

In addition to the MMPA, business owners in Missouri may also be subject to federal laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). HIPAA applies to businesses that handle protected health information (PHI) and requires them to implement reasonable and appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect PHI. PCI DSS applies to businesses that accept credit card payments and requires them to meet specific security standards in order to protect sensitive payment data.

In practice, meeting these legal obligations requires businesses to take a multi-layered approach to cybersecurity, including:

• Implementing firewalls and antivirus software
• Conducting regular security audits
• Enforcing strong passwords
• Training employees on how to identify and avoid phishing scams
• Regularly backing up important data
• Utilizing a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• Having an incident response plan in place
• Complying with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA and PCI-DSS

As a business owner in Missouri, you are responsible for ensuring that your business complies with all applicable state and federal laws related to cybersecurity. By taking the steps outlined above, you can help protect your business from cyber-attacks and minimize the damage caused by a successful attack. It is also important to stay informed about new laws and regulations and to update your security policies and procedures accordingly.