As states begin to relax their business restrictions in anticipation of an eventual resumption of normal operations, employers must make critical decisions now as to the focus of the enterprise as well as the reintegration of its employees in a post COVID world. Indeed, the former consideration may require wholesale restructuring of the business, as its “virtual footprint” becomes the principal means of generating revenue and managing the workforce. Returning employees to work presents equally important business considerations that will require the introduction of new best practices in the form of a workforce reintegration plan to prepare employees for a successful and safe return. This proactive plan will necessarily include policies and procedures aimed at compliance with the new Covid-19 legal requirements mandated by federal and state law, as well as to adjust and adapt the workforce and the workplace environment to the new health and safety concerns and conditions of a post pandemic business. OlenderFeldman covered many of these issues in its two-part series titled “Leveraging the Lockdown,” click here for Part I and click here for Part II and is providing additional guidance through its Art of the Restart series, which is available here: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. Our Firm has compiled the following abbreviated summary of the most important aspects of this guidance below. Restructuring Your Business By now, most businesses have obtained their CARES Act loan and should be contemplating what their new enterprise looks like from a headcount and salary perspective to ensure maximum loan forgiveness. But loan forgiveness is not the primary focus of business planning efforts. Rather, the business needs to anticipate its ability to function in the “new normal” and build its return to work strategy around such guidance. Your business will then need to develop a rehiring plan based upon an audit of your current workforce to ensure that there is a business rationale behind the return to work of each employee. This analysis will also assist the business in establishing an objective, non-discriminatory basis for any selective rehiring as well as guide the business on the manner and method of returning employees to work. In developing this plan, employers will want to consider restructuring teams, limiting hierarchies, revising positions, reclassification (salaried vs. hourly, full-time/part-time), and staggered return to physical workspaces, if necessary, for business function or effectiveness. Communication and Education Once your business has a restructuring plan in the works, you will need to communicate the new focus of the business to the workforce, including expectations on return to work. Establish and communicate clear and effective policies that outline expectations and address employee questions about the future of the business and their roles. Explain how the business has pivoted and what the plan for the return of the workforce is upon resumption of business operations following the lockdown. Employers cannot afford “radio silence” about their plans, particularly if bringing workers back is a critical element of its recovery plan. Employees will most certainly be making their own contingency plans about return to work if they have been furloughed and employers may be in for a terrible surprise when attempting to bring them back only to discover that they have gone elsewhere in the absence of any belief that a position with their current employer remains a viable option. Needless to say, employers should not make any promises or commitments about return to work given present circumstances, but should provide some guidance as to whether prior held positions may become available when the business reopens. The Creation of New Human Resource Policies Employers must create new flexible policies covering use of paid time off, sick leave, remote work, and health and safety in light of new governing laws including the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA). The interplay between the FFCRA and other established laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), to say nothing of the state variations on these laws, will force all employers to take a fresh approach with their leave policies. Businesses will need to learn how to handle requests for accommodations on a routine basis as workers adjust to new environments. New policies will need to be established for the use and maintenance of PPE gear and hygiene protocols in the office. Workers will also need to be instructed and trained in practices and procedures concerning social distancing and physical interactions within the workplace involving employees and members of the general public. In addition, businesses will need to learn how conduct a “direct threat analysis” for any at-risk worker with a known health problem and an individualized assessment of the reasonable accommodation. Employees with preexisting disabilities may be accommodated in various ways, such as telework, modified work schedule, temporary job restructure, or paid/unpaid leave. Employers are cautioned not to treat certain individuals differently because they may be at high risk, such as pregnant or older employees. Further, employers should not unilaterally deny individuals to return to the workplace absent documented and objective medical evidence of a direct health risk. New Workplace Health and Safety Protocols Because the spread of the virus has been acknowledged by government health authorities as a direct threat to the workforce, employers are currently permitted to take employee temperatures as they physically return to work. In advance of returning to work, employers may ascertain whether any of its employees exhibit COVID-19 symptoms such as shortness of breath, fever, chills, cough, or sore throat. In addition, employers may inquire whether its employees have been in close personal contact with individuals diagnosed with the virus or traveled to COVID-19 hotspots within the past two weeks and determine standards for allowing them to return to work. Notably, if your business chooses to implement screening or testing, it is important to keep employee’s health information confidential and separate from employee’s personnel files. To maintain social distancing between employees, clients and visitors, businesses should consider implementing some or all the below measures if possible and conducive to operations: Ensure daily personal and worksite sanitizing and cleaning; Prohibit employees from sharing work stations, phones or equipment; Develop one-way traffic patterns; Install barriers such as plexiglass between desks and cubicles in traffic locations; Provide and mandating use of PPE; Consider closing normal areas of congregation such as kitchen areas and moving to outdoor spaces for breaks and lunch hours; Limit or restrict access to visitors; and Consider halting or restricting business travel while monitoring CDC’s travel recommendations to determine whether business travel is necessary. New Responsibilities for your Office or Human Resources Manager In collaboration with your Human Resources department or representative, employers should establish and identify a workplace coordinator to be responsible for implementing, executing, and monitoring your return-to-work plan. The workplace coordinator should be tasked with communicating with employees and clients to ensure that all health and safety questions are answered; monitor evolving State directives; and keeping track of employee well-being, including contact tracing. If necessary, engage with a third-party vendor to train your staff on the return-to-work plan before employees physically return to the workplace. Further Guidance on Covid-19 Compliance Issues In the coming weeks, OlenderFeldman anticipates that additional guidance may be provided by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor and their state analogues. Please continue to regularly check our website (www.olenderfeldman.com) for updated guidance and information. As always, the Employment Practices Group of OlenderFeldman is available to work and guide you through the daunting challenges of managing your business in a post-COVID world. Please contact Howard Matalon (hmatalon@olenderfeldman.com) or Alex Umansky (aumansky@olenderfeldman.com) for a consultation as to how to best plan for the rapid emergence of your business from the lockdown.

Using Human Temperature Sensing Technology To Keep Customers and Employees Safe in the COVID-19 EraBy: Partners in Regulatory Compliance As stay at home orders are lifted and businesses begin to reopen, companies of all sizes should take precautions to protect their customers and employees. Failure to take appropriate precautions could result in potential legal liability and, on a more broad scale, could contribute to a second wave of the pandemic and the resulting further social and economic harm. On the other hand, taking transparent steps to protect the safety of your employees and customers is likely to engender the type of confidence that will result in a return to a more “normal” and successful business and work environment. One step towards such transparency may be thermal scanning technology to quickly detect employees or customers with high temperatures – a known symptom of COVID-19. “Visitor and employee temperature checking technology may help your customers, visitors and employees feel safer in the post-pandemic era.” - Daniel J. Haurey, Member, Partners in Regulatory Compliance Thermal scanning technology, also known as temperature checking technology, entails the use of infrared scanning technology to map an individual’s heat image to determine if they have a high or abnormal temperature. Thermal scanning technology is effective because it is practical in the real world. TAURI Temperature-Check Tablets from Aurora Multimedia Corp. are an example of such technology, and Aurora claims that the test takes only one second to deliver results and can tell an individual's temperature from 3 feet away. Advantages of technology such as Aurora’s tablets are: (1) immediate detection of body temperature (which could be a symptom of COVID-19); (2) contactless scanning to allow social distancing in the first instance while results are pending; and (3) flexibility in location of testing. Countless new comparable technologies are popping up on a daily basis to address this issue. Of course, you should always make sure that you have confidence in the technology you use. Further, it is critical that you do not violate your employees’ and customers’ privacy rights and expectations with respect to the results you obtain from devices or technology such as the temperature-check tablets. You will also need to consider whether you can compel such testing, or must merely make it optional. If you are uncertain of such rights and expectations, consult your HR department or your trusted attorney. To learn more about temperature checking tablets and how they can be used to fight the spread of COVID-19, contact Exigent Technologies, a NYC Managed IT Services company. Daniel J. Haurey is a Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) and principal at Partners in Regulatory Compliance, a cybersecurity firm in Manhattan. This post is a guest column and OLENDERFELDMAN LLP makes no representations, and takes no responsibility, for any products referenced herein and has not independently tested same.

Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 On June 5, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (“Flexibility Act”) which has changed certain aspects of the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The following is a summary: Extended “Covered Period” The Flexibility Act extends the “covered period” of the loan for forgiveness purposes from the current 8-week period to the earlier of 24 weeks from the date of PPP loan origination or December 31, 2020. Existing PPP borrowers can choose to keep the original 8-week period or to use the new extended period. Final Date to Apply Remains Unchanged The final date to apply for a PPP loan remains June 30, 2020. 60% for Payroll Costs for Forgiveness To be eligible for loan forgiveness, the borrower must now use 60% of the loan proceeds for payroll costs, as opposed to the 75% previously imposed by the SBA. Borrowers may use up to 40% of the loan amount for non-payroll costs (i.e., covered mortgage obligations, covered rent obligations and covered utility payments). Note: The language of the Flexibility Act suggests that borrowers must spend at least 60% on payroll or no portion of the loan will be eligible for forgiveness however the SBA is expected to provide further guidance. Loan Payment Deferral Period The 6-month deferral period before PPP loan payments are due now begins on the date of the PPP loan and ends on the date that the SBA remits the loan forgiveness amount to the lender. If a borrower does not apply for forgiveness within 10 months after the last day of the borrower’s covered period, the deferral period ends on the date that is 10 months after the last day of the borrower’s covered period. New Deadline of December 31, 2020 to Eliminate Headcount and Wage Reductions Borrowers now have until December 31, 2020 to eliminate reductions in headcount and salary or wages of employees and restore levels to pre-COVID levels. New Safe Harbor to Avoid Full-Time Equivalent Related Reductions During the period beginning February 15, 2020 and ending December 31, 2020, the amount of loan forgiveness will be determined without regard to proportional reductions in the number of Full-Time Equivalent employees if the borrower, in good faith, can document the following: (i) an inability to rehire employees who were employed by the borrower as of February 15, 2020, and (ii) an inability to hire similarly qualified employees for unfilled positions on or before December 31, 2020, or an inability to return to the same level of business activity as such business was operating at before February 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements and guidelines issued by the federal and state level health agencies during the period beginning on March 1, 2020 and ending on December 31, 2020, related to the maintenance of standards for sanitation, social distancing or other worker or customer safety requirements related to COVID-19. Extended Maturity to 5 years for New PPP Loans New PPP loans made after June 5, 2020 will have a minimum term of 5 years. The CARES Act originally provided for a maximum maturity of 10 years from the date on which the borrower applies for forgiveness. Borrowers with existing loans can mutually agree with their lenders to amend the loan documentation to provide for a 5-year term instead of a 2-year term (although there is no obligation imposed to do so). Payroll Tax Deferral PPP borrowers who obtain loan forgiveness can now defer payment of their payroll taxes. Such deferral was originally prohibited under the CARES Act. For more information, please contact us at info@olenderfeldman.com or 908-964-2485.

Are you in the process of reopening your business?On Tuesday, June 16th, 2:00 pm, Tequipment is hosting a 1 Hour Webinar to review various elevated temperature screening solutions for employee & customer safety. Michael J. Feldman will participate in this Webinar to discuss the aspect of Regulatory Compliance for using Human Temperature Sensing Technology. Tuesday, June 16th, 2:00 pm. Click on the link below to register for this informative and free event. RESERVE YOUR SPOT

On June 19, 2020 the SBA posted an Interim Final Rule to implement changes made the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) by the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (“Flexibility Act”). The majority of the provisions of this new Interim Final Rule amend the SBA’s initial April 20, 2020 rule to include the Flexibility Act’s new regulations. What does this mean: Overall, the Flexibility Act is the SBA’s acknowledgement that the Cares Act did not meet the reality of most businesses that were negatively impacted by COVID-19. The period during which businesses have been (and continue to be) negatively impacted is far in excess of the original eight-week period that was contemplated by the Cares Act. What has changed? The following: The “covered period” governing the use of loan proceeds and eligibility is amended to begin on February 15, 2020 and end on December 31, 2020, rather than June 30, 2020. This means that the period during which loan proceeds may be used, and potentially forgiven, has been extended. The revised Interim Final Rule defines the forgiveness period as the 24-week period beginning on the date the loan is disbursed. However, if a PPP loan was made before June 5, 2020 the borrower may elect to have the forgiveness period be the 8-week period beginning on the date of loan disbursement. For most PPP borrowers this means you have a choice of forgiveness periods – stay with the original 8 weeks, or extend the period to 24 weeks. This will enable borrowers that would have previously been unable to exhaust their PPP loan within 8 weeks to do so. This does not mean that the loan proceeds must be spent over the entirety of the 24 week period – it only means that there is a longer time to spend the loan. Note that extending the loan period to 24 weeks is implicitly an extension of the representation made during the loan application and draw down process – that your business continues to or is likely to suffer negative impacts from COVID-19 and that it requires the PPP loan to fund payroll and other permissible expenses. There is now a minimum maturity of 5 years for all PPP loans made on or after the date of the Flexibility Act’s date of enactment. All loans made before June 5, 2020 will still have a maturity date of 2 years, but borrowers and lenders may mutually agree to extend the maturity of such loans to 5 years. If a borrower submits a loan forgiveness application within 10 months after the end of the forgiveness period, the borrower will not have to make any payments of principal or interest on the PPP loan before the date on which the SBA remits the loan forgiveness amount to the lender or informs the lender that no forgiveness is permitted. Borrowers who do not submit a forgiveness application within 10 months following the end of the forgiveness period must begin paying the principal and interest after that 10-month period. Borrowers can now spend at least 60 percent of their loan proceeds on payroll costs in order to achieve full loan forgiveness. This was previously at 75 percent. The SBA and the Treasury Department are interpreting this requirement as a proportional limit on nonpayroll costs as a share of the borrower’s loan forgiveness amount, rather than as a threshold for receiving any loan forgiveness. As a result, if borrowers do not spend 60% of the funds on payroll costs, they must reduce their forgiveness request so that the payroll costs are 60% of the forgiveness amount. The Flexibility Act also clarified that this percentage relates to forgiveness only and does not otherwise proscribe loan use. In addition to the new regulations, the SBA has issued revised versions of the loan application materials, forgiveness instructions and a new “EZ” forgiveness application to align with the Flexibility Act’s changes. The mechanics are unchanged but borrowers should ensure they are using updated forms during the process. For assistance or for more information, please contact us at info@olenderfeldman.com

Join us on Thursday July 23rd @ 7PM ET We invite you to join us for an important roundtable discussion on the emerging factors of employer empathy and accountability, which are acutely felt and impactful during this difficult time in coping with the fallout of COVID-19. To Register, click here: https://conta.cc/320yIRT

The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued a decision, Schrems II, in which the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield was invalidated as a legal mechanism to transfer personal data from the European Union (“EU”) to the United States. Privacy Shield was invalidated as it was deemed to not provide sufficient protection to EU individuals due to the surveillance practices of the US government and related lack of privacy protections. What this means: Pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the transfer or processing (which includes saving, viewing, using, etc., such data) of personal data (generally, any data connected to a person or which could be used to identify a person) of individuals located in the EU from the EU to the United States (and many other nations) is not permitted unless at least one of several enumerated procedures are in the place. One such popular procedure for U.S. businesses was to certify under EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. Though the U.S. Department of Commerce, which operates EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, stated that it “will continue to administer the Privacy Shield program, including processing submissions for self-certification and re-certification to the Privacy Shield Frameworks and maintaining the Privacy Shield List,” reliance upon this mechanism appears to no longer be valid for the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S. How the CJEU decision may impact your business: If you currently rely upon Privacy Shield for the transfer or processing of personal data from the EU, you will need to institute an alternative legal mechanism for such transfer. One popular method for such transfer of personal data is known as Standard Contractual Clauses (“SCCs”). Luckily, the CJEU decision did not invalidate SCCs. Unfortunately, various EU data protection supervisory authorities (“DPAs”) have called into question the validity of the use of SCCs EU to U.S. personal data transfers and may require a case-by-case analysis of the protections actually in place. What you should do: If you previously relied upon Privacy Shield to validate and legalize transfers or processing of personal data from the EU, you should immediately enter into SCCs for all such transfers and contractual arrangements. You should also analyze the actual protections in place to protect and secure such data transfers and processing and take all reasonable steps to make sure that the rights of individuals from the EU are protected in accordance with the requirements of principals of GDPR. For more information, contact Michael J. Feldman, Esq. at mfeldman@olenderfeldman.com or 908-964-2486.

For anyone interested in attending a webinar on July 28 at 2 PM (EST) on temperature screening related to Coronavirus and getting back to work, one of our partners, Michael J. Feldman, Esq. (mfeldman@olenderfeldman.com, 908-964-2486), will be serving as a panelist addressing the legal issues below (together with Evan Cirelli, VP and Co-Founder of TEquipment, who will be discussing the technology issues). The webinar is free, but you need to sign up if you want to attend. The topics to be discussed include: FDA & CDC Temperature Screening Guidelines. What technology is available for Elevated Body Temperature screening including Thermal and IR solutions. Privacy concerns when an employee who has elevated temperature. Can you store or retain temperature results, and is such storage regulated by law? What do you do once you have the temperature results? What are your obligations to maintain a safe work environment and how does temperature scanning fit in? What are the implications if you are covered by GDPR? You can register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7126598273381663758?source=mb-law

In case you missed the July 28th webinar on temperature screening related to Coronavirus and getting back to work, Tequipment has provided access to a video recording of the event: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/5362320816252433922 If you have any further questions, please contact Michael J. Feldman, mfeldman@olenderfeldman.com, 908-964-2486

Just the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) Back to School and “Paid Child Care Leave” Under FFCRA With the new school year shortly underway in New Jersey and many other states, many of our clients have asked questions about the conditions under which employees can take paid child care leave under the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA), which is the federal amendment to the Family Medical Leave Act that came into effect earlier this year with the onset of COVID-19, and applies to all businesses with under 500 employees. This paid leave is in addition to any paid sick time available under New Jersey or other state laws that contain child care leave provisions for school closures. OlenderFeldman LLP has prepared this FAQ to separate fact from fiction concerning employee leave rights for child care following the return of children to school this Fall. Q.What is the “paid child care leave” requirement under FFCRA? A. “Paid child care leave” is the shorthand reference to one category of paid emergency family leave under FFCRA and requires employers to provide eligible full-time employees with up to twelve (12) weeks of paid sick and medical protected leave if the employees are unable to work due to a bona fide need to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19. Part-time employees are eligible for leave for hours that they are normally scheduled to work over that period. Q. Do employers have to provide leave to every employee with child care issues while schools are closed? A. No. If the employee has not been employed for at least 30 days and is capable of working from home while caring for a child whose school is closed, the employer does not have to provide leave. Employers can request employees to provide documentation explaining why they cannot work from home while taking care of a child. There is also a hardship exception for employers with under 50 employees as discussed below. Q. Do employers need to provide employees with their job back after leave? A. Yes, but employees on leave are not guaranteed the actual job held prior to the leave. Employees must be restored to the same job or to an “equivalent job” that is virtually identical to that position with the same salary and benefits. Q. Do employers need to pay full salary to employees out on “child care leave”? A. No. Employees out on FFCRA child care leave only receive two-thirds (2/3) of their daily salary up to $200 per day and up to $12,000 in the aggregate. Employers may also recover the amount of wages paid under FFCRA on a dollar-for-dollar basis through tax credits and should consult with their accountants and payroll providers to account for these reimbursable wages. Q. Do employees who have already taken FFCRA leave for their own personal medical condition also get child care leave? A. Yes, but only to the extent that they have not used up their maximum leave period of twelve weeks. For example, if an employee has already used ten (10) weeks of FFCRA leave recovering from COVID-19 this year, they can only take two (2) weeks of child care leave. Q. Is a school considered “closed” if providing online classes? A. Yes, but there are exceptions and the situation remains quite fluid because many states (including New Jersey) are allowing schools to create their own programs that include one of the following plans: entirely remote, hybrid attendance, or optional attendance. In its most recent guidance (https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-questions#98) the United States Department of Labor has issued guidance for each of these three types of learning programs: Entirely Remote. If a school has moved entirely to online classes, the DOL considers the school to be “closed” for purposes of FFCRA leave and the employee is eligible to obtain leave. Hybrid Attendance. If the school is operating on an alternate day or hybrid attendance policy (certain days in person and other days remote), the employee can take FFCRA leave only during remote-learning days. Thus, the employee would not be eligible to take FFCRA leave on the days the school is open for in-person learning. Optional Attendance. If the school provides a choice between in person attendance or remote learning, an employee will not be eligible for FFCRA leave if they choose to keep their child home regardless of the reason for that decision. Q.Can the employer refuse FFCRA child care leave? A. Yes, but there are very specific requirements for doing so. A business with less than 50 employees can refuse FFCRA child care leave when doing so would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern and an authorized officer of the business has determined that: (1) providing leave would result in the expenses and financial obligations exceeding available business revenues and cause the business to cease operating at minimal capacity; OR (2) the absence of the employee or employees requesting leave would entail a substantial risk to the financial health or operation of the business because of their specialized skills, knowledge, or responsibilities; OR (3) there are insufficient workers able, willing, qualified, and available to perform the labor or services provided by the employee or employees requesting leave and these labor or services are needed for the small business to operate at a minimal capacity. Q. What is the best practical advice to business owners to address employee requests for paid child care leave under FFCRA? A. Employers need to create an FFCRA Child Care Leave Request Form so that they can evaluate and track the specific requests of their employees in a manner similar to leave requests under the FMLA. These leave request forms are available from OlenderFeldman. Employers also need to consult with an attorney for any specific issues associated with leave requests if the entitlement of an employee to leave is in question or if the employer intends to deny leave based on business hardship. Further information or guidance concerning FFCRA leave can be obtained from OlenderFeldman LLP. Please contact Howard Matalon (hmatalon@olenderfeldman.com) or Alex Umansky (aumansky@olenderfeldman.com) in the Employment Practices and Employment Litigation group.

Your information and data can be TAKEN FROM YOU by hackers. Here is an account of one of the worst examples of ransomware that this IT professional encountered in his 15 years on the front lines. You wake up one morning and go through your morning routine, including logging in to your computer. But wait … something’s wrong. You see a weird set of error messages – something about a virus, your files being encrypted, and needing to pay to get the decryption key before your data is lost forever. You invite your colleague to take a peek, and she confirms that “everyone’s getting that message today.” The phones are ringing off the hook, but the company has ground to a halt. Without a contract and a great IT vendor, it is not until the next morning that an IT tech you never met shows up to help. Unfortunately, after spending hours figuring out your system, you are told that your back-ups have been failing for a month and cannot be recovered. Your option appears to pay the $8,000 Bitcoin ransom being demanded by the hacker or forever lose your data, so you pay the ransom. Unfortunately, after paying the ransom, your servers and computers still fail to function. You have lost everything. *** While the above may seem exaggerated or a worst-case scenario, it is based on a true story. It’s one of the worst examples of ransomware I had ever encountered in the past 15 years of my IT and cybersecurity professional experience. I felt horrible for what happened to this business and what this meant, not only for the owner, but for all of the employees that worked for him as well. While you may want to blame the IT vendor, this was the owner’s fault and it all could have been prevented. Information Security and Business Continuity is the responsibility of the business owner. Your information and your data are YOUR responsibility. You have a responsibility to classify your own data, to label it, and to determine how important any data or application is to your business. You have a responsibility to create company policies, including Information Security Policies, that govern how your information should be handled (in theory, as a high-level concept), how your business should prepare for and deal with breach incidents and data being lost or compromised. Your inexperience or ignorance regarding how to do this properly is not a good reason to think that it is someone else’s responsibility. If you’re reading this and you are solemnly nodding in agreement: excellent. If you find yourself getting angry at me: good enough, it only proves my point further – you’re angry because you have a lot of pride in your business and if you admit I’m right, you’re also admitting your business is lacking a crucial need. You need official, written, documented corporate policies governing information security and business continuity. Without corporate information security and business continuity policies being dictated by you, how can any IT vendor possibly know what to implement and configure for you? How can you have an expectation for business continuity (such as with successful backups) without someone who constantly tests these systems in accordance with a corporate policy laid out by you as the owner? Here’s the good news: many IT companies and law firms offer these sorts of services. You don’t need to be an information security expert; you just need to know the buck stops with you. Hire information security specialists or qualified lawyers to consult with you on crafting these corporate policies. Engage them and other vendors in good faith to implement technical controls that help enforce and comply with these corporate policies. Sign contracts with vendors to meet the criteria specified by your corporate policies in order to minimize the chances of something like this happening to you and your business. There is no Silver Bullet but believe me when I say that the only thing information security specialists and vendors want you to have to worry about in the morning is getting your kids ready in time for school. Aaron Cervasio is a veteran IT professional at New Jersey Managed IT Services Company, Exigent Technologies.

We are pleased to announce our affiliation with the #NJsmall Grassroots Movement – Now a Bill Sponsored by Assemblyman Schaer – to Help Hasten New Jersey’s Economic Recovery. To read more, click here.