By Chris Leahy
In recent news, data hacks have been incredibly prevalent and new cases can be found every day. According to The Identity Theft Resource Center, in 2015 alone there have been a reported 519 data breaches with 139,993,068 records stolen. The recent dramatic hacks of Ashley Madison, Jeep, Anthem, and Sony have drawn large amounts of media attention and the severity of these incidents are becoming more well known. As a result, the government is now imposing regulations on companies to reduce security infringements. According to Wired[1] the Federal Trade Commission can now sue businesses that do not properly protect their data.
[bctt tweet=”New Monetary Punishments Put Out By Government @Aegify” via=”no”]
The United States appellate court made the decision on Monday, August 24, and this decision could prove to have large consequences. Wired also reported the court ruling to have said, “A company does not act equitably when it publishes a privacy policy to attract customers who are concerned about data privacy, fails to make good on that promise by investing inadequate resources in cybersecurity, exposes its unsuspecting customers to substantial financial injury, and retains the profits of their business.”
This is an impactful decision as this means that virtually any company could be held liable if they are subject to a leak of data. This is valuable information to the customers who are giving companies their personal data, as this gives the business’ even further incentive to invest in sound security systems. This should also be significant to just about any company as it could mean fines for any that do not have proper data protection in place.
If there was ever a wake up call for business organizations to look into their security software, this should be it. Not only now are they in danger of being hacked and losing valuable records (which can be very damaging as it is) but there is also now the added possibility of being investigated and sued by the FTC. Security is more important now than ever, don’t let your company become a victim.
[1] Greenberg, Andy. “Court Says the FTC Can Slap Companies for Getting Hacked.” Wired. August 24, 2015.