Federal Agencies Given New Breach Response And Preparation Guidelines

The White House has made a step toward implementing in federal agencies some breach response best practices currently used in the private sector. On Jan. 3, the White House issued a memorandum (Memo) updating for the first time in almost a decade guidelines on how federal agencies should prepare for and respond to a breach of personally identifiable information. The Memo comes on the heels of a 27 percent increase (between 2013 and 2015) in the number of incidents reported by federal agencies and addresses certain "changes to laws, policies, and best practices that have emerged since the Office of Management and Budget first required agencies to develop plans to respond to a breach."