NU Online News Service, Sept. 16, 3:23 p.m. EDT

The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) has released a prototype agency information security plan to assist agencies and brokerages in creating their own written security plans.

The plan's aim is to safeguard the private information of an agency's clients and employees, the agency's proprietary and confidential information, the physical security of the agency's premises and the integrity of electronic systems so that they function smoothly and without interruption.

"Numerous state privacy and security breach notification laws, as well as several federal laws, require agents to have written security plans to protect their operations and the privacy of their clients' and employees' private information," said Steve Aronson, president of Aronson Insurance in Newton & Needham, Mass. and chairman of the ACT Agency Security Best Practices Work Group that produced the plan.