Senators Call for Updated Protections to Combat Data Breaches
U.S. Senators said Congress should update laws governing the security of consumer data after recent breaches of payment systems at Target Corp. (TGT) and other retailers.
Senate Banking Committee members called for creation of a national data-breach notification system for retailers and greater data-protection powers for the Federal Trade Commission. At a hearing today, Senator Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, said he would introduce a bill to set a minimum 25-year sentence for violations of federal data-theft laws.
“This is a real problem that the FTC’s enforcement authority in this area is so limited,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said of the agency’s authority to pursue data-breach cases. “Data-security problems aren’t going away on their own so Congress really needs to consider whether to strengthen the FTC’s hand.”
A Senate Banking subcommittee today held the first in a series of hearings on the security of consumer data. Tomorrow, Target’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, John Mulligan, will take questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee along with representatives of the Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies. A third hearing, in the House Commerce Committee, follows on Feb. 5.
At stake is about $40 billion of revenue earned by card issuers including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), as well as the profits of Target and other retailers affected by the breaches. More than $3 trillion in U.S. customer transactions take place each year through the point-of-sale systems infiltrated by the hackers, according to David Robertson, publisher of the Nilson Report, an industry newsletter based in Carpinteria, California.
more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-03/senators-call-for-updated-protections-to-combat-data-breaches.html
