According to a federal appeals court ruling Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has the right to pursue enforcement action against Wyndham Worldwide after the hotel chain experienced a trio of breaches.

Questions have been raised as to what authority the FTC has in security breach matters, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a lower court decision affirming that authority and giving the go-ahead to a lawsuit brought by the commission in 2012, which accuses Wyndham of serious security shortcomings.

Wyndham had been breached three times and the FTC brought a case against the company because “did not use encryption, firewalls, and other commercially reasonable methods for protecting consumer data.”'

In a statement, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said: that the “decision reaffirms the FTC's authority to hold companies accountable for failing to safeguard consumer data,” noting it is "critical" the commission “has the ability to take action...when companies fail to take reasonable steps to secure sensitive consumer information.”

Source: SCMagazine