Cybersecurity Considerations for Employers Sponsoring ERISA Plans
Cyber-criminals often steal funds and personal data from employee benefit plans. Employers face increasing liability for failures in cybersecurity of the employee benefit plans they sponsor, including for the security of plan assets and data managed by service providers. The DOL has updated its detailed guidance on cybersecurity for ERISA-covered benefit plans. The DOL’s guidance applies to health and welfare plans as well as to retirement plans. In its most recent step to combat cybersecurity risks to employee benefit plans, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) clarified on September 6, 2024, that its guidance on cybersecurity applies to health and welfare plans as well as retirement plans. The new guidance underscores the risk to employers that fail to ensure adequate cybersecurity of plan data and assets. B reaches of plan assets and sensitive personal information in plans, such as Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, and health information, occur regularly and c...