ICO: £18.4 Million Fine On Marriott For Failing to Detect A Cyber-Attack

ICO:  £18.4 Million Fine On Marriott For Failing to Detect A Cyber-Attack

By decision of 30 October 2020, the ICO (i.e., the UK data protection authority) issued an £18.4 million fine on Marriott International Inc for failing to comply with its GDPR security obligation.

This decision stems from a cyber attack on Starwood, a company acquired by Marriot in 2016, notified to the ICO in 2018. The ICO investigation traced the cyber-attack back to 2014. It concerned million of customers’ personal information, including among other their reservation details, payment card details, and passport number. 

UK: The ICO Fines British Airways £20 Million Following A Personal Data Breach

UK: The ICO Fines British Airways £20 Million Following A Personal Data Breach

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed a fine of  £20m on British Airways (BA) for failing to protect the personal and financial details (payment card details) of more than 400,000 customers.

The ICO investigation revealed that the BA had not implemented adequate security measures and as a result, could not detect a cyber-attack, which took place in 2018 until BA was made aware of the attack by a third party two months later.