Wawa has agreed to an $8 million settlement with seven attorneys general over a 2019 breach that is estimated to have affected 34 million payment cards.
The data breach affected stores in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia from April 18, 2019, to Dec. 12, 2019. Hackers deployed malware on the company’s point-of-sale terminals, affecting in-store payments and payments at gas pumps.
The attorneys general jointly announced the settlement on Tuesday.
“Today’s settlement will help protect Pennsylvanians personal information going forward and will hold Wawa accountable for the data breach that occurred on their watch. Thanks to this work Wawa will adopt new corporate policies to deter data breaches in the future,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro s said in a statement.
“This settlement is as important for the strengthened cyber security measures it requires as for the dollars Wawa must pay,” said New Jersey acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin. “When businesses fail to maintain solid data security systems or train their employees to recognize suspicious web overtures, criminal hackers can be counted on to move in and exploit the situation. This settlement should serve as a message to the industry that we are serious about holding businesses accountable when they fail to protect consumers’ sensitive personal information.”
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