Massachusetts Data Breach Law: Encryption for Mac Attorneys

One of the most important requirements of the new Massachusetts Data Breach Law regulations, effective May 1, 2009, will be the encryption of personal information on portable computers and portable electronic storage devices such as USB thumb drives, and external hard drives. While I’ve written in the past about how to encrypt information on computers running Microsoft Windows, I have not addressed how to do so on on Mac computers (because I don’t use a Mac). Fortunately, there is an excellant blog for Mac users, The MacLawyer, which recently posted a tutorial on how to secure electronic files with an ecrypted disk image on your Mac. If you are not currently securing confidential information on your you should begin doing so now to protect yourself and your clients. However, you will certainly find this tutorial handy on May 1, 2009, when the Massachusetts Data Breach Law regulations requiring encryption on portable electronic devices goes into effect.