Sophos, a global security leader, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Astaro, a privately held provider of network security solutions, headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts, USA and Karlsruhe, Germany. Businesses today face unprecedented challenges in protecting users and IT infrastructure from escalating complex security threats, especially those brought on by more mobile, roaming users, new application protocols, and distributed networks. There is a widening security gap for companies given the new rules by which users, businesses and IT operate and this acquisition answers unmet customer needs for better security coordination and effectiveness between users, applications and IT infrastructure.
Massachusetts’ MA 201 CMR 17.00
Massachusetts' MA 201 CMR 17.00 data protection regulations go into effect on Monday, March 1, and that is a huge step forward for the protection of personal information. Breach disclosure laws are old news, but 201 CMR 17.00 is different, it prescribes data protection specifics, and it is not limited to those in Massachusetts: “201 CMR 17.01 (2) Scope The provisions of this regulation apply to all persons that own or license personal information about a resident of the Commonwealth.” Yes, all persons (which includes companies and organizations), regardless of where they are located, are covered if they: “Owns or licenses, receives stores, maintains, processes, or otherwise has access to personal information in connection with the provision of goods or services or in connection with employment.” This is a big deal, for two key reasons. First, it is leading the way in state regulation of the protection of data