Substitute House Bill No. 6607
Public Act No. 21-119
AN ACT INCENTIVIZING THE ADOPTION OF CYBERSECURITY
STANDARDS FOR BUSINESSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2021) (a) As used in this section:
(1) "Business" means any individual or sole proprietorship,
partnership, firm, corporation, trust, limited liability company, limited
liability partnership, joint stock company, joint venture, association or
other legal entity through which business for profit or not-for-profit is
conducted;
(2) "Covered entity" means a business that accesses, maintains,
communicates or processes personal information or restricted
information in or through one or more systems, networks or services
located in or outside this state;
(3) "Data breach" means unauthorized access to and acquisition of
computerized data that compromises the security or confidentiality of
personal information or restricted information owned by or licensed to
a covered entity and that causes, reasonably is believed to have caused
or reasonably is believed will cause a material risk of identity theft or
other fraud to a person or property. "Data breach" does not include (A)
good faith acquisition of personal information or restricted information Substitute House Bill No. 6607
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by the covered entity's employee or agent for the purposes of the
covered entity, provided the personal information or restricted
information is not used for an unlawful purpose or subject to further
unauthorized disclosure, or (B) acquisition of personal information or
restricted information pursuant to a search warrant, subpoena or other
court order, or pursuant to a subpoena, order or duty of a regulatory
state agency;
(4) "Personal information" means an individual's (A) first name or
first initial and last name in combination with any one, or more, of the
following data: (i) Social Security number; (ii) taxpayer identification
number; (iii) identity protection personal identification number issued
by the Internal Revenue Service; (iv) driver's license number, state
identification card number, passport number, military identification
number or other identification number issued by the government that is
commonly used to verify identity; (v) credit or debit card number; (vi)
financial account number in combination with any required security
code, access code or password that would permit access to such
financial account; (vii) medical information regarding an individual's
medical history, mental or physical condition, or medical treatment or
diagnosis by a health care professional; (viii) health insurance policy
number or subscriber identification number, or any unique identifier
used by a health insurer to identify the individual; or (ix) biometric
information consisting of data generated by electronic measurements of
an individual's unique physical characteristics used to authenticate or
ascertain the individual's identity, such as a fingerprint, voice print,
retina or iris image; or (B) user name or electronic mail address, in
combination with a password or security question and answer that
would permit access to an online account. "Personal information" does
not include publicly available information that is lawfully made
available to the general public from federal, state or local government
records or widely distributed media; and Substitute House Bill No. 6607
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(5) "Restricted information" means any information about an
individual, other than personal information or publicly available
information, that, alone or in combination with other information,
including personal information, can be used to distinguish or trace the
individual's identity or that is reasonably linked or linkable to an
individual, if the information is not encrypted, redacted or altered by
any method or technology in such a manner that the information is
unreadable, and the breach of which is likely to result in a material risk
of identity theft or other fraud to a person or property.
(b) In any cause of action founded in tort that is brought under the
laws of this state or in the courts of this state and that alleges that the
failure to implement reasonable cybersecurity controls resulted in a data
breach concerning personal information or restricted information, the
Superior Court shall not assess punitive damages against a covered
entity if such entity created, maintained and complied with a written
cybersecurity program that contains administrative, technical and
physical safeguards for the protection of personal or restricted
information and that conforms to an industry recognized cybersecurity
framework, as described in subsection (c) of this section and that such
covered entity designed its cybersecurity program in accordance with
the provisions of subsection (d) of this section. The provisions of this
subsection shall not apply if such failure to implement reasonable
cybersecurity controls was the result of gross negligence or wilful or
wanton conduct.
(c) A covered entity's cybersecurity program, as described in
subsection (b) of this section, conforms to an industry recognized
cybersecurity framework if:
(1) (A) The cybersecurity program conforms to the current version of
or any combination of the current versions of:
(i) The "Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Substitute House Bill No. 6607
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Cybersecurity" published by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology;
(ii) The National Institute of Standards and Technology's special
publication 800-171;
(iii) The National Institute of Standards and Technology's special
publications 800-53 and 800-53a;
(iv) The Federal Risk and Management Program's "FedRAMP
Security Assessment Framework";
(v) The Center for Internet Security's "Center for Internet Security
Critical Security Controls for Effective Cyber Defense"; or
(vi) The "ISO/IEC 27000-series" information security standards
published by the International Organization for Standardization and the
International Electrotechnical Commission.
(B) When a revision to a document listed in subparagraph (A) of this
section is published, a covered entity whose cybersecurity program
conforms to a prior version of said document, such covered entity shall
conform to such revision not later than six months after the publication
date of such revision;
(2) (A) The covered entity is regulated by the state or the federal
government or is otherwise subject to the requirements of any of the
laws or regulations identified in subparagraphs (A)(i) to (A)(iv),
inclusive, of this subdivision, and such covered entity's cybersecurity
program conforms to the current version of:
(i) The security requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996, P.L. 104-191, as amended from time to time,
as set forth in 45 CFR 164, Subpart C, as amended from time to time;
(ii) Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, P.L. 106-102, as Substitute House Bill No. 6607
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amended from time to time;
(iii) The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, P.L.
113-283, as amended from time to time; or
(iv) The security requirements of the Health Information Technology
for Economic and Clinical Health Act, as amended from time to time, as
set forth in 45 CFR 162, as amended from time to time.
(B) If any of the laws or regulations identified in subparagraphs (A)(i)
to (A)(iv), inclusive, of this subdivision are amended, a covered entity
whose cybersecurity program conforms to a prior version of said laws
or regulations, such covered entity shall conform to such amended law
or regulation not later than six months after the date of such
amendment; or
(3) (A) The cybersecurity program complies with the current version
of the "Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard" and the current
version of another applicable industry recognized cybersecurity
framework described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of this
subsection.
(B) When a revision to the "Payment Card Industry Data Security
Standard" is published, a covered entity whose cybersecurity program
conforms to a prior version of said document, such covered entity shall
conform to such revision not later than six months after the publication
date of such revision.
(d) (1) A covered entity's cybersecurity program, as described in
subsection (b) of this section, shall be designed to do the following with
respect to personal and restricted information: (A) Protect the security
and confidentiality of such information; (B) protect against any threats
or hazards to the security or integrity of such information; and (C)
protect against unauthorized access to and acquisition of the
information that would result in a material risk of identity theft or other Substitute House Bill No. 6607
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fraud to the individual to whom the information relates.
(2) The scale and scope of a covered entity's cybersecurity program
shall be based on the following factors: (A) The size and complexity of
the covered entity; (B) the nature and scope of the activities of the
covered entity; (C) the sensitivity of the information to be protected; and
(D) the cost and availability of tools to improve information security and
reduce vulnerabilities.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect or limit the
process by which certification is granted in class actions founded in tort.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of
the Attorney General or the Commissioner of Consumer Protection to
seek administrative, legal or equitable relief as otherwise allowed by the
general statutes or common law.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect or limit any
requirement of section 4e-70 or 36a-701b of the general statutes.