Any organization that’s been the victim of a cyber attack has ahost of stakeholders to deal with, not the least of which is theapplicable regulatory authority, either state or federal. Anybusinesses hoping that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wouldlose some of its authority in pursuing companies following cyberbreaches have been sent a clear signal by an appeals court. It’snot going to happen—at least for now.

In a recent ruling on FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp.,the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit also has given thego-ahead on a lawsuit against Wyndham.

Lisa Sotto, an attorney at Hunton & Williams who also chairsthe U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy andIntegrity Advisory Committee explained that “Companies need to have“reasonable safeguards in place.” Since the series of high-profilebreaches starting with the Target breach in 2013, companies have tobe ready and prepared for breaches, she said. “Companies reallyhave awakened from their slumber.”

“While the FTC has been active in seeking to address datasecurity issues, this is the first major ruling confirming that ithas the authority to do so,” said Michael Hindelang, head of thedata security/privacy litigation and e-discovery/informationmanagement practice groups at Honigman Miller Schwartz andCohn.

Hindelang predicted that the FTC will likely “look to increaseits regulatory activity in this area now that its authority hasbeen upheld. Accordingly, companies that don’t adequately protecttheir customers’ data run the risk of having their behavior deemedan unfair trade practice by the FTC,” he said.

One interesting point Hindelang raised is that thiscase doesn’t lay out standards for data security. “Determiningwhat the requirements are of appropriate security measures willlikely take some time,” he added.

Read the full story from Legaltech News at: Legal Experts Weigh In On Court Ruling in Favor of FTC AuthorityOver Data Breaches