A 2025 Cybersecurity Legal Safe Harbor Overview

Complementing strong cybersecurity programs, legal safe harbor laws encourage firms to adopt cybersecurity frameworks while offering them a potential shield against punitive damages in the aftermath of a data breach, according to RIMS Legislative Review: A 2025 Cybersecurity Legal Safe Harbor Overview.

Authored by RIMS Public Policy Committee members Katherine J. Henry and Harold Weston with the support of Bradley LLP Associate Attorney Anna Hamel, the new RIMS report provides a general overview of expected cybersecurity measures that organizations must take to satisfy safe harbor requirements. The report dives deeper into those requirements in six U.S. states, as well as briefly reviewing recently adopted Federal Communications Commission regulation.

“Cyberbreaches are bound to happen, so understanding and leveraging safe harbor laws can provide an additional layer of protection,” the report notes “These regulatory guidelines can provide an invaluable guide for organizations to confidently enter into new markets across the United States while, simultaneously, building a stronger, more robust cybersecurity defense.”

For more information or to download the full report (login required), please visit RIMS.