I generally run across two viewpoints when it comes to security, the totally oblivious to it and the totally freaked out about it. Frankly neither of these groups have a good grasp on what it takes to maintain a reasonable level of security.
So... should you worry? Well... I'm not sure that worrying will help, what you should be is well informed. Then you can take the necessary steps to protect yourself and your customer against what can be a very devastating event for both of you. And you can still sleep well at night!
The privacy laws that have been enacted at state and federal levels make some degree of security a necessity when dealing with any personal identifiable information. When the data relates to finances or health the requirements are even higher. In most cases if data is lost you will be required to contact the consumer who's data was lost and inform them of the loss. This is a very large embarrassment to your client and can trash their reputation with their public, not to mention the potential damage it could cause to their consumers! So it is something that is vital to avoid.
Even if you never touch the data files, the details of your clients marketing campaign can be very embarrassing if leaked, so security is still important.
In this section of my blog, I will be highlighting the steps you need to take to achieve a reasonable level of security. I'll cover some of what the dangers are and what you should be doing about them. I will be keeping it simple and designing my posts for those who are not overly computer literate. So, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, please ask them or post them, I will be more than happy to help.