In the wake of hacks of big companies like American Airlines and DoorDash, the federal government needs to boost cybersecurity for consumers, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
Noting Uber and U-Haul have also been targeted within the past 30 days, the New York Democrat called on the Federal Trade Commission to pressure businesses to protect consumer data.
He also said the Justice Department should strengthen investigations and prosecutions of hackers.
“In roughly the last 30 days, vital and personal information has been hacked at many major U.S. companies, compromising people’s privacy. Yet, if you ask most people about these hacks they don’t even know they occurred and the feds are saying very little,” Schumer said in a statement.
“In fact, for a lot of consumers, unless you have a service — which often comes at a cost — you are not aware of these breaches and hacks. And in some cases, even if you do have a service that alerts you, information about where your personal information went, the origin of the hack and so much more is elusive.”
American Airlines confirmed a data breach on Sept. 20, saying an “unauthorized actor” had gotten access to some customer and employee info, Reuters reported.
Days earlier, U-Haul revealed a breach of its customers’ data.
Uber on Sept. 15 discovered it had been hacked, too, prompting the ride-hail company to take some of its systems offline.
And DoorDash confirmed a data breach on Aug. 25.
Schumer called on the federal government to shed more light on the problem, noting the FBI “has visibility into a quarter of cyber incidents.”
“The feds have a law on the books to glean more information on major hacks, so the message today is: give consumers the details and investigate who is hacking,” Schumer said. “If a company is not doing right by their customers’ very personal information, then hold them to account as well. That is the two-pronged message today.”
Last month, a cyberattack also hit Suffolk County in New York, shutting down government servers for more than 20 days.
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