Five companies settled with the New York
Attorney General over mobile app data security issues at the end of
last year. The AG alleged that the companies, Western Union,
Priceline, Equifax, Spark Networks, and Credit Sesame, had a
well-known security vulnerability in their apps. This vulnerability
resulted in insecure connections between the apps and the
companies' servers. As a result, a third party could easily
have gained access to people's sensitive information.
In its announcement, the AG pointed out that the vulnerability
in question had been well known for many years, and that the FTC
had reached a settlement in 2014 over the same issue. Also, that
app developers can test their software for the vulnerability using
"freely available software." As part of the settlement
the companies have agreed to implement comprehensive security
programs to protect user information.