FTC Sues Wyndham Worldwide for Alleged Data-Security Failures
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against hotel and time-share company Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (WYN) and three of its subsidiaries, alleging data-security failures that led to three data breaches at Wyndham hotels in less than two years, according to an article from the Wall Street Journal.
In a lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Arizona, the FTC said that Wyndham, which through its affiliates manages and franchises Ramada, Days Inn and Super 8 hotels, among others, often stored consumers’ credit card information in text files that were easily read by hackers, according to an article from The New York Times. Three times from April 2008 to January 2010, intruders gained access to the company’s computer systems, the agency said, and the company failed to take corrective measures after each of the first two breaches, the Times reports..