Canadian Anti-Spam legislation (Including software instalation) (Part II)

This blog is a continuation of a previous post concerning the new Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Part I can be found here.

This part will deal with how to prepare for this new legislation.

First of all, the question comes to mind on what should we do to prepare for this law. One must first understand that this law deals with ALL commercial electronic communication from companies, organizations, non-profits, individuals etc, that send out email and install software programs.

Lets take an example or three.

Your company has a booth at a trade show. You have a fish bowl at your booth for a prize draw. After the show, you take all the names of those people who entered the draw and add them to a mailing list. Then as you prospect these potential clients you send out an email soliciting for their business. Unless they have specifically 'signed' permission to allow you to do this (OPT-IN), your company can be found in contradiction of the law and be fined up to $5 million dollars.

Another example:

You have a web site where potential customers can download marketing material on the goods or services you provide. However, you require these web surfers to register before that material would be made available for download. At the bottom of the webpage you have a check box (which is already pre-checked for the user) allowing the company in question to email further updates. This case could be interpreted as being an OPT-OUT option because the check box is already prefilled. This would satisfy the CAN-SPAM Act (US) but would not be deemed complaint with the new Canadian law that requires an explicit OPT-IN option. And once again the company could be liable for millions of dollars in fines.

And one final example:

You bought a software application to be installed on your Smart Phone (or PC or IPAD or Mac or Tablet). When you start installing the package, there is no explicit consent to allow for the installation, therefore the software company would be liable. Also note that an End User License (EUL) acceptance may not be enough to satisfy the requirements.

Find below a few suggestions that, I believe, would help to start planning for compliance.

1) Take an inventory of all commercial messages that your organization is currently, or planning on sending out. This includes text messaging, Facebook campaigns, emails etc.

2) Discuss and create policies and guidelines that define what a Commercial Electronic Message (CEM) (as per CASL) is within your organization. If there are any exceptions that are applicable these should also be noted within the new policy.

3) Create an all-encompassing list of computer programs that your company directly, or indirectly installs on any electronic device.

4) If applicable, create a list of all computer products (and services) that your organization is involved with. This includes not only the initial software installation but any updates/upgrades that are part of your business process.

5) Discuss and create policies and guidelines that determine when your organization needs to obtain consent for installation of some software. Also note, while there are some exceptions (which should also be documented), all the information will need to be retained for review at a later date.

6) Review current consent that has been collected and see if it complies with the new legislation. If not, a process may need to be created to obtain consent using the new polices. This is further complicated because of the three year transition period mentioned within the law.

7) Document, create, clarify, create a process where the end user can agree to enter into a commercial arrangement, yet withhold consent to CEM.

8) Retain documentation/proof that a written consent was obtained. This includes date, time and manner of consent. Further consideration may also be needed if your organization allows for verbal consent rather than written. Given the strong penalties that can be doled out, every type of consent must be tracked.

9) Update the avenues of interaction between the organization and the end user to reflect the new polices (see above). This includes templates that are used to send out CEM, websites, social media etc. Also be aware that mandatory identity and contact information must be included in any future CEM.

10) Create a process so that the end user can rescind any previous consent. Remember that the withdrawal of consent must then also be forwarded to any third parties and associated companies, if applicable.

Consider the above as only a guideline on how to proceed. Again, I emphasize that this is not legal advice nor is it intended to be all encompassing. Every situation is different.

If you have any questions, concerns  feel free in contacting me.

Small/Medium Business and Security/Privacy exploration

In this blog entry I want to explore the effects and the threats surrounding the small business realm and how it is effected by concerns of security and of course indirectly privacy.

But first some numbers.

1) Targeted attacks destined for Small  Business (1 to 250 (employees) accounted for 31 percent of all attacks, compared with 18 percent in 2011, an increase of 13 percent [1]

2) According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses, as many as 30% of an average company's employees do steal, and another 60% will steal if given a motive and opportunity.[2]

3) Almost three-quarters (72%) of data breaches investigated by Verizon Communications’ forensic analysis unit were focused on companies with less than 100 employees.[3]

And the list goes on. But I hope you get the idea.

In fact, depending on the source of data, there is no difference between the security issues of large organizations and small & medium business (SMB) (under 1000 employees).

Both types of businesses rely on computerize ‘everything’, to support their ongoing commercial and not for profit endeavors, never mind using social media for commercial marketing etc.. Both (large and SMB), for the most part, have web sites, use email, store information within databases containing commercial/proprietary information, financial positions (bookkeeping) etc. The employees also have access to various types of data (including those mentioned above), and can carry around that information on smartphones (bring your own device (BYOD)), etc.  Yet, except for some superficial attempt to secure the endeavor’s information, most SMB are vulnerable to threats like those that are mentioned above. The reason is because not enough is done to protect that sensitive information.

Let’s just investigate some best practices for organizations today.

All organizations, whether big or small, should have a Disaster Recovery (DR)/Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to enable them to still function and continue to be in business if an issue presents itself. How many small businesses do have a fully tested, functional BCP? Yet a disaster does not care if the company in question has 100 employees or 5,000.

All organizations should have and enforce internet/email usage policies. This should reduce any blatant misuse and potentially harmful activities of employees (or at least enable employers to take action if need be).

And the list of items that need addressing goes on and on. Many large organizations have specialist(s) whose entire responsibilities are just to ensure the day-to-day operation of the business.

While all organizations have to address critical issues, SMB have a number of strong disadvantages. The obvious one that comes to mind is their lack of resources. Namely most small business cannot afford a full time security/privacy professional. If money is not the issue (ever heard of a company where it wasn’t?) then a lack of expertise would be another major factor (and handicap). It takes time and experience to protect and recover from security concerns. And the basic human thought, ‘it will never happen to us, is something all personnel have to deal with.

So let’s take look at an realistic example of what can  happen to a $5,000,000 dollar a year SMB business.

11)    They have a major system failure and their systems were completely down for 4 days, and only partially in order for another six days. Total loss approx. $175,000

22) Cost to hire professionals to bring their system back on line $12,000

33)  Lost of a number important documents (payroll information, orders, A/R etc) that would be difficult to recreate. Cost unknown.

Total cost $187,000 +

Now lets take a look on the cost of setting up a relatively simple BCP/DR Etc

11)   Set up a working and tested DR/backup plan as part of a BCP $10,000

22)   Set up a commercial firewall, configured to help enforce the companies policies $10,000

33) Set up endpoint security (Anti-malware, Data Loss Prevention etc.) $5,000

44) Administration, training $5,000

Total cost $30,000

For a savings of  about $157,000 and with a big reduction of risk to the organization it then becomes obvious which of the two is the better option.

You can see by the numbers, the company in question would agree, it was a costly oversight not to do the due diligence, to say the least.

So we have all these organizations that are liable to have security/compliance/privacy etc issues, yet money is a huge concern. So what can be done?

There are a number of independent consultants whose specialty is to work with SMB. These consultants can plan and implement the best practices that are needed for an organization. They bring expertise, certifications, etc. that a small organization could ill afford to develop in-house due to the costs involved. For most SMB, once a comprehensive plan is developed and deployed, only a small additional cost would be needed moving forward to make sure everything is tested/working (maintenance/review changes etc) on an ongoing bases .

However, I would be remiss if I did not highlight the importance of finding a competent resource. There are a lot of consultants that have hung their shingle out to find business. So due diligence is in order. Ask for references, preferably with companies of a similar nature. Ask for any professional certifications that are concerned with this domain/realm. Ask for an estimate for the work needed. Get a Statement of Work (SOW) which should also include an established procedure for cost escalation and/or additional work requests. In other words try to make sure you are getting value for your money.

At then end it comes down to that, in our electronic world we work/live in, cutting corners will end up biting you on your bottom line. Ignoring the issues does not make it go away. But there is a reasonable way of mitigating those very real risks.

As the saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’, and the sooner the better.

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[1] http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20130415_01

[2] www.nfib.com/business-resources/business-resources-item?cmsid=29624

[3] http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2013/