Tag: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Cyber Risk / Cybersecurity

Congress Concludes Additional Federal Oversight Needed after Equifax Data Breach

“Equifax…failed to implement an adequate security program to protect this sensitive data…Such a breach was entirely preventable.” So concludes the December 2018 report on “The Equifax Data Breach” by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The cause, according to the report, was Equifax’s “acquisition strategy [to benefit] bottom line and stock price,” which “growth brought increasing complexity to Equifax’s IT systems, and expanded data security risks.” Risks, it seems, Equifax did not manage. In 2017, the Department of Homeland Security… Continue Reading
Cybersecurity

3D Printing: A Cybersecurity Concern

Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, is a process of making three-dimensional solid objects from a digital model. Additive manufacturing is already used in a number of critical fields, such as medicine, aerospace, civil engineering, and industrial manufacturing. 3D printers are often internet-connected, and increasingly open-sourced. And because of that, you can virtually 3d print pretty much anything through a 3d printing service. Confidentiality and privacy concerns are the most direct consequence of a data breach involving a 3D printer. This could… Continue Reading
Cyber Breach / Cybersecurity / Data Privacy

Long-struggling ‘Google Plus’ Social Network to be Shutdown after Security Breach Affects 500,000

On Monday, October 8, 2018 Google disclosed a security breach it discovered months ago that put at risk the personal data of hundreds of thousands of Google Plus users. In March, Google discovered, and fixed, the bug that allowed outside software developers to gain access to personal information on Google Plus users, including names, email addresses, ages, occupations and relationship status. The company’s decision to not immediately report the software bug has some concerned that Google cannot be relied on to protect privacy. Google… Continue Reading
Regulation

The FTC Gang’s All Here, Part III

As we noted in a previous post, the United States Senate has confirmed five new commissioners, bringing a full complement to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Four of those commissioners have taken their seats, with the fifth likely to join in the Fall. Here we will provide the biographies of the last two commissioners (based on seniority).  We have already discussed the other three new commissioners. Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter – Commissioner Slaughter was sworn in in May 2018. She comes to the… Continue Reading