Online Protecting Personal Information Course

Identity theft is a huge problem for consumers and the companies that serve them. In the U.S. alone, five percent of adults — about 10 million — are victimized each year, with total losses of about $50 billion. U.S. companies spend another $50 billion a year on identity-theft-prevention measures.

In response, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts now requires organizations that handle the "personal information" of any Massachusetts resident to implement certain safeguards to protect that information against identity theft and other misuse. The Massachusetts data-security regulation (201 CMR 17.00) requires that employees receive training annually on administrative, technical and physical safeguards for the handling of such information.

Online Protecting Personal Information Training Course Summary

Using the new Massachusetts data-security regulation as a framework, this 25-minute course explains the basic principles of protecting the personal information of all individuals, regardless of their state of residence. It includes pop quizzes, news clippings and a final quiz highlighting real-world compliance issues that employees should learn to recognize and respond to appropriately. The topics covered in the course include —

• Overview
• What information is covered?
• Why is this important?
• Physical safeguards
• Administrative safeguards
• Technical safeguards
• Encryption
• Handling personal information
• Electronic ID and passwords
• Social engineering
• Security incidents