Thompson Inquires on Massive Marriott Data Breach
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to the President and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International after it was revealed last week that the corporation suffered a massive data breach. In the letter, Congressman Thompson has requested to meet the CEO to discuss cybersecurity.
In the letter, Ranking Member Thompson writes:
As incoming Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security in the U.S. House of Representatives, I am disturbed by the evolving scale and scope of data breaches affecting Americans, the types of actors who may be interested in the data, and the nefarious purposes for which bad actors might use stolen data…
We have entered an era where the data collected and stored to carry out and expedite routine business transactions can be weaponized against us. The data Marriott stores about its customers is a treasure trove for cyber criminals looking to make money and state actors hoping to gain intelligence about government officials. Breaches have the potential to undermine our economic and national security interests, and, to date, we have struggled to discourage hackers from investing time and resources into gaining unauthorized access to sensitive data. We must do better.
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