Travel-booking company Sabre Corp. settles with 27 states over breach of credit card data

Sabre Corp. will make a $2.4 million payout and shore up its cybersecurity policies under an agreement with 27 state attorneys general who investigated a breach of its hotel-booking technology. The settlement, announced Wednesday, involves a 2016 intrusion into the SynXis Central Reservation, run by the Texas-based corporation’s Sabre Hospitality Solutions subsidiary. The breach exposed the details of about 1.3 million credit cards. The attorneys general held that Sabre responded poorly to the incident, particularly in notifying people that their information might be compromised. “Sabre first failed its customers with a susceptible security system, then failed them when it came to provide proper notifications,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “Today’s agreement not only imposes a hefty fine on Sabre but will ensure that the company has the appropriate security and incident response plan in place so that its failure does not take place again.” In announcing the breach […]

The post Travel-booking company Sabre Corp. settles with 27 states over breach of credit card data appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Travel-booking company Sabre Corp. settles with 27 states over breach of credit card data

ACLU sues FBI for information about its encryption-cracking skills

The FBI must be more transparent about its ability to break into people’s mobile devices, the American Civil Liberties Union says, and the group is suing for information about what the feds have in their toolkit. The ACLU says the bureau should come clean about what its Electronic Device Analysis Unit (EDAU) is using “to unlock and decrypt information that is otherwise securely stored on cell phones.” The group filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit Monday in a San Francisco federal court. “We’re demanding the government release records concerning any policies applicable to the EDAU, its technological capabilities to unlock or access electronic devices, and its requests for, purchases of, or uses of software that could enable it to bypass encryption,” the ACLU says in a news release. The suit is the latest offensive in what some call the Crypto Wars — an ongoing legal and policy struggle over […]

The post ACLU sues FBI for information about its encryption-cracking skills appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading ACLU sues FBI for information about its encryption-cracking skills

Tech Giants Lend WhatsApp Support in Spyware Case Against NSO Group

Google, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and others want appeals court to deny immunity to Israeli company for its alleged distribution of spyware and illegal cyber-surveillance activities. Continue reading Tech Giants Lend WhatsApp Support in Spyware Case Against NSO Group

Amazon Sues Instagram, TikTok Influencers Over Knockoff Scam

‘Order This, Get This’: Social-media influencers are in Amazon’s legal crosshairs for promoting generic Amazon listings with the promise to get prohibited counterfeit luxury items instead. Continue reading Amazon Sues Instagram, TikTok Influencers Over Knockoff Scam

Anthem to pay $39.5 million to states in latest settlement over 2015 hack

Anthem has agreed to pay $39.5 million in penalties and fees resulting from a sweeping 2015 cyberattack on the health insurer as part of a multi-state settlement, the company announced Wednesday. It’s the latest fallout from a major data breach that exposed data on some 79 million people, and which U.S. authorities have blamed on a Chinese hacker. The settlement, based on an investigation by attorneys general in over 40 states, requires Anthem to implement a security program that includes penetration-testing, and logging and monitoring of networks. It also bars Anthem from misrepresenting how the company protects its customers’ privacy and security, according to the New York attorney general’s office. “The company is pleased to have resolved this matter, which is the last open investigation related to the 2015 cyberattack,” Indianapolis-based Anthem said in a statement, adding that it has an “ongoing and consistent focus on protecting information.” The repercussions of the […]

The post Anthem to pay $39.5 million to states in latest settlement over 2015 hack appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading Anthem to pay $39.5 million to states in latest settlement over 2015 hack

UK suit seeks compensation for Marriott data breach victims

Marriott International is the subject of a lawsuit in the United Kingdom brought by millions of former guests seeking compensation for the exposure of their data in a massive breach. The class action-style lawsuit, filed by U.K. resident Martin Bryant, comes in response to a security incident in which hackers accessed information about more than 300 million people between July 2014 and September 2018. The breach, first revealed in 2018, included data such as email addresses, phone numbers and credit card data about people who booked reservations through the Starwood Hotels chain, which Marriott acquired. U.S. officials privately attributed the breach to hackers working on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security, the New York Times reported. Passport numbers belonging to some 25 million people were also involved. In a statement, Bryant said he filed the lawsuit because the hotel operators had failed to “take adequate steps to ensure the […]

The post UK suit seeks compensation for Marriott data breach victims appeared first on CyberScoop.

Continue reading UK suit seeks compensation for Marriott data breach victims

Senate Bill Would Expand Facial-Recognition Restrictions Nationwide

The proposed law comes as police departments around the country for their use of facial recognition to identify allegedly violent Black Lives Matter protesters. Continue reading Senate Bill Would Expand Facial-Recognition Restrictions Nationwide