Incident Details
On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted to revise privacy protection regulations that are 16 years old, as well as to enhance breach notification requirements. The aim is to offer law enforcement and the public prompt details about harmful data breaches. The updated rule broadens the FCC's breach notification criteria to include all personally identifiable information maintained by carriers and telecommunication relay service providers on their clientele. These entities must furnish individual breach notifications within seven business days upon confirming a breach affecting 500 or more customers. The commission saw three Democrats in favor of the motion, while the two Republicans dissented. The agency justified the rule revisions by pointing out the increased frequency and seriousness of data breaches in recent decades.
Incident
How Did the Breach Happen?
The breach happened due to antiquated privacy protection regulations and the rising occurrence and severity of data breaches in the last twenty years.
What Data has been Compromised?
Carriers and telecommunications relay service providers store personal identifiable information of their customers.
Why Did the company's Security Measures Fail?
Inadequate security measures result from outdated policies and guidelines that did not encompass all personally identifiable information and did not mandate prompt breach notifications.
What Immediate Impact Did the Breach Have on the company?
The updated regulations now mandate that all carriers and telecommunication relay service providers must notify individuals of any breach involving personal identifiable information within seven business days.
How could this have been prevented?
Preventing this breach would have been possible by updating the rules related to privacy protection and mandating prompt notifications in the event of any unauthorized access to personal identifiable information.
What have we learned from this data breach?
The significance of regularly updating and enhancing privacy regulations to adapt to the changing nature of data breaches has been acknowledged.
Summary of Coverage
The FCC has recently authorized significant revisions to regulations concerning the notification of data breaches in order to improve the availability of immediate information regarding damaging data breaches. These updated regulations broaden the range of data breach notification obligations and mandate prompt notifications for any personal identifiable information that has been compromised.