Before you give the go ahead to acquire or merge with another company, consider what happened to Marriott.  Also know there is a better way then “just assuming” your new partner has been protecting their castle.  Click below to download Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst, IT-Harvest’s report on “The Urgent need for security instrumentation”. 

The United Kingdom’s data protection regulator plans to fine Marriott International $124 million for last year’s massive data breach involving 339 million guest records.

The data breach dates back to 2014, possibly even before Marriott acquired Starwood, but was not identified until 2018. The fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) falls under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and follows action against British Airways, who is facing a $229 million fine after suffering a cyberattack in September 2018, says a news report.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said, “Marriott failed to undertake sufficient due diligence when it bought Starwood and should also have done more to secure its systems,” and its decision isn’t final.