Newsroom

May 29, 2014

White House says retailers must reveal threat info

May 30, 2014 – At a cybersecurity summit in Washington, a senior White House official talked about the need for data security legislation and highlighted the danger of companies not sharing information about data threat concerns.

Speaking at the summit, which was held by the Armed Force Communications and Electronics Association, Ari Schwartz spoke about the need for legislation on data security threats, but said "we can make some progress without legislation ... It will benefit companies' bottom lines if they share. It will benefit government agencies to share more information."

According to The Hill, retailers have expressed concerns that sharing threat information could expose them to antitrust lawsuits. Schwartz said, "We always talk about the liability concerns about sharing the information — I'm starting to hear a lot more about the liabilities for companies for not sharing. We need to share ... It works in both directions at this point, which is a change from where we were a few years ago."

After the massive Target Corporation breach, NAFCU was the first financial trade association to call for a national data security standard for retailers, and has continued putting pressure on Congress to pass legislation that would hold retailers accountable for their negligence.