FCC Enters Data Security Realm for First Time With $10 Mil. Fine

The Federal Communications Commission has entered the realm of data security for the first time--with a $10 million fine no less, the Washington Post's Brian Fung reports. The fine was levied against "two telecom companies that allegedly stored personally identifiable customer data online without firewalls, encryption or password protection. The two companies, YourTel America and TerraCom, share the same owners and management. From September 2012 to April 2013, the FCC said, the companies collected information online from applicants to Lifeline, the government's telephone subsidy program for poor Americans."

The data was discovered by reporters for the Scripps Howard News Service doing a simple Google search, Fung also reports.