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Major Boston Restaurant Group That Failed to Secure Personal Data to Pay $110,000 Penalty

By Catherine D. Meyer, Amy L. Pierce, Deborah S. Thoren-Peden

Alert

By Catherine D. Meyer, Amy L. Pierce, Deborah S. Thoren-Peden

04.05.11

The Briar Group, LLC, which owns and operates popular bars and restaurants in the Boston area including The Lenox, MJ O’Connor's, Ned Devine's, The Green Briar, and The Harp, settled with Massachusetts' Attorney General for allegedly "putting the payment card information of consumers at risk."

In a March 28 press release, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley reported that "[T]he Briar Group experienced a data breach in April 2009, when malcode that was installed on [the Briar Group's] computer systems allowed hackers access to customers' credit and debit card information, including names and account numbers. The malcode was not removed from the Briar Group's computers until December 2009." In addition, the Briar Group "failed to change default usernames and passwords on its point-of-sale computer system; allowed multiple employees to share commons usernames and passwords; failed to properly secure its remote access utilities and wireless network; and continued to accept credit and debit cards from consumers after Briar knew of the data breach."

Download: Major Boston Restaurant Group That Failed to Secure Personal Data to Pay $110,000 Penalty

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