The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced this week that it has released a new guide to state laws on data breach notifications. With a variety of laws that marketers and their clients’ companies need to follow if they’ve suffered a data breach (as far as when and how customers need to be notified following a data breach), the DMA is now distributing guidelines.

“We hear nearly every week about the occurrence of data breaches,” said Peggy Hudson, DMA’s senior vice president for government affairs. “Data security and consumer trust are inextricably linked, and it’s up to all marketers to act as stewards of consumer information. With this guide and our extensive advocacy efforts, DMA is making the task of data stewardship more manageable for responsible actors across the data-driven marketing economy.”

With major retailers such as Target, Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, and Michael’s reporting hacks into their systems in recent months, consumers and marketers alike have been on high alert for potential data breaches and they are recognizing the business implications. The average cost to a company to investigate and respond to a data breach is $5.9 million, according to the 2014 Cost of Data Breach Study. Published by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by IBM, the study also reported a 15% increase in these costs over the previous year.

“Until Congress passes a national data breach notification law, companies will be required to navigate this complex patchwork of 47 state requirements,” said Hudson. “This book gives marketers a guide to prepare and respond to a breach.”

For more information on the DMA guide, go to www.thedma.org.