Like existing statutes in more than 20 other states, the new laws prescribe various actions that companies are required to take in the event of a security breach involving the compromise of personal data about their customers.

For instance, New Jersey's Identity Theft Prevention Act requires businesses to destroy all unneeded customer data and to notify consumers when sensitive data about them has been accessed by an unauthorized person. The law also limits the use of Social Security numbers on all items that are sent via postal mail.

Louisiana's Database Security Breach Notification Law requires entities that collect information on the state's residents to notify affected individuals of security breaches involving their confidential data. Government officials also need to be notified, according to the law. Illinois' Personal Information Protection Act is similar, although it doesn't require companies to inform the state government when breaches occur.

For companies that do business nationally or in various states, the smorgasbord of state laws poses a growing problem, because the measures often specify different triggers for notifications and set varying requirements on what needs to be disclosed, to whom and when, said Kirk Herath, chief privacy officer at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. in Columbus, Ohio.

In addition, some states require companies to provide credit-monitoring services to affected customers, whereas others don't, Herath said. And not all of the states offer safe-harbor provisions exempting from their laws companies that encrypt data, he said.