The US Federal Trade Commission issued a warning that it will take legal action against companies that fail to remediate the recent Log4j vulnerability.
“When vulnerabilities are discovered and exploited, it risks a loss or breach of personal information, financial loss, and other irreversible harms. The duty to take reasonable steps to mitigate known software vulnerabilities implicates laws including, among others, the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Gramm Leach Bliley Act. It is critical that companies and their vendors relying on Log4j act now, in order to reduce the likelihood of harm to consumers, and to avoid FTC legal action.”
The post adds: “According to the complaint in Equifax, a failure to patch a known vulnerability irreversibly exposed the personal information of 147 million consumers… The FTC intends to use its full legal authority to pursue companies that fail to take reasonable steps to protect consumer data from exposure as a result of Log4j, or similar known vulnerabilities in the future.”
The FTC recommends companies use the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) guidance, and:
- Update the Log4j software package to the most current version found here.
- Consult CISA guidance to mitigate this vulnerability.
- Ensure remedial steps are taken to ensure that your company’s practices do not violate the law. Failure to identify and patch instances of this software may violate the FTC Act.
- Distribute this information to any relevant third-party subsidiaries that sell products or services to consumers who may be vulnerable.
Read more about it here.