FTC Member Says Lawsuits Focus on Cyber System Failures

One of the five commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission says her organization has investigated hundreds of cyber security breaches at companies across the country, but has only brought suit 53 times.

FTC Commissioner Julie Brill, a Vermont resident who works in Washington, says the organization tends to file lawsuits when it finds systematic failures in a company’s data security practices, not when there is an isolated vulnerability in a product or service.

Brill spoke Monday at a cyber security conference at Norwich University in Northfield.

Brill is a former Vermont assistant attorney general who focused on consumer protection issues.

The Norwich event is part of a tour by National Cyber Security Alliance that is focusing on personal cyber security.