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 082 3208

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

COMMISSIONERS: Jon Leibowitz, Chairman

William E. Kovacic

J. Thomas Rosch

Edith Ramirez

Julie Brill

 

 )

In the Matter of )

 )

SETTLEMENTONE CREDIT CORPORATION, )

a corporation, )

 )

and )

 )

SACKETT NATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC., )

a corporation. ) DOCKET NO. C-4330

 )

___________________________________________)

COMPLAINT

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”), having reason to believe that

SettlementOne Credit Corporation and Sackett National Holdings, Inc. have violated the

Commission’s Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information Rule (“Safeguards Rule”), 16

C.F.R. Part 314, issued pursuant to Title V, Subtitle A of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLB

Act”); 15 U.S.C. §§ 6801-6809, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et

seq.; and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”), 15 U.S.C. 

§ 45(a), and it appearing to the Commission that this proceeding is in the public interest, alleges:

1. Respondent SettlementOne Credit Corporation (“SettlementOne”) is a California

corporation with its principal office or place of business at 2605 Camino Del Rio

South, San Diego, California 92108. Respondent SettlementOne is a whollyowned subsidiary of respondent Sackett National Holdings, Inc.

2. Respondent Sackett National Holdings, Inc. (“SNH”) is a corporation with its

principal office or place of business at 2605 Camino Del Rio South, San Diego,

California 92108. SNH conducts business through its ten wholly-owned
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subsidiaries, including SettlementOne. During all times material to this

complaint, SNH controlled the practices alleged in this complaint. 

3. The acts and practices of respondents as alleged in this complaint have been in or

affecting commerce, as “commerce” is defined in Section 4 of the FTC Act, 15

U.S.C. § 44.

4. SettlementOne contracts with the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies,

Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion (“nationwide CRAs”) to obtain consumer

reports that it assembles and merges into a single “trimerge report.” The trimerge

reports contain sensitive consumer information such as full name, current and

former addresses, Social Security number, date of birth, employer history, credit

account histories and information, and even account numbers. Much of this

sensitive information is not publicly available. These “trimerge reports” are

“consumer reports” as defined in Section 603(d) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. 

§ 1681a(d).

5. Respondents sell these trimerge reports to mortgage brokers and others to

determine consumers’ eligibility for credit. In creating and selling the trimerge

reports to end user clients, respondent SettlementOne is a consumer reporting

agency as that term is defined in Section 603(f) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681(f). 

6. Respondent SettlementOne is a “financial institution” as that term is defined by

Section 509(3)(A) of the GLB Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6809(3)(A), and is therefore

subject to the requirements of the Safeguards Rule.

RESPONDENTS’ COURSE OF CONDUCT

7. SettlementOne furnishes its end user clients with trimerge reports through an

online portal. It issues credentials to its clients, which consist of a user name and

password. The end user clients use these credentials to access SettlementOne’s

online portal and receive trimerged reports. 

8. From at least February 2008, respondents have engaged in a number of practices

that, taken together, failed to provide reasonable and appropriate security for

consumers’ personal information. Among other things, respondents failed to:

a. develop and disseminate information security policies for SettlementOne

and its end user clients;

b. assess the risks of allowing end users with unverified or inadequate

security to access consumer reports through SettlementOne’s portal;
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c. implement reasonable steps to address these risks by, for example,

evaluating the security of end user’s computer networks, requiring

appropriate information security measures, and training end user clients; 

d. implement reasonable steps to maintain an effective system of monitoring

access to consumer reports by SettlementOne’s end users, including by

monitoring to detect anomalies and other suspicious activity; and 

e. take appropriate action to correct existing vulnerabilities or threats to

personal information in light of known risks. 

9. Because of SettlementOne’s lack of information security policies and procedures,

respondents allow clients without basic security measures in place,

such as firewalls and updated antivirus software, to have access to their trimerge

reports. The lack of such security measures directly caused highly-sensitive

consumer reports to be available to hackers, as explained below. 

 

THE BREACHES

10. As a direct result of these failures, between February and June 2008, hackers were

able to exploit vulnerabilities in the computer networks of multiple

SettlementOne end user clients, putting consumer reports in those networks at

risk. In multiple breaches, hackers accessed at least 784 consumer reports

without authorization. Additionally, the hackers had the ability to view any

consumer report that the end user client had pulled in the previous 90 days.

11. Following each of the breaches, respondents did not make reasonable efforts

to determine the cause(s) of the breaches and protect against future breaches. 

Although respondents did terminate some of the affected end users after learning

of the security breaches, in other cases respondents did nothing. Respondents, for

example, did not require end user clients to submit any documentation

demonstrating that the clients’ computer systems were virus free and otherwise

properly protected. In one instance, despite the lack of documentation, the

respondents restored access to an end user whose credentials had been stolen.

12. In addition, respondents have made no effort to warn their other end users of a

known threat, or to suggest they make any efforts to ensure their systems were

adequately secured. Respondents continue to give access to consumer reports to

end user clients whose information security has not been adequately verified. 

VIOLATIONS OF THE SAFEGUARDS RULE

13. The Safeguards Rule, which implements Section 501(b) of the GLB Act, 15

U.S.C. § 6801(b), was promulgated by the Commission on May 23, 2002, and

became effective on May 23, 2003. The Rule requires financial institutions to
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protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of customer information by

developing a comprehensive written information security program that contains

reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards that include: 

(1) designating one or more employees to coordinate the information security

program; (2) identifying reasonably foreseeable internal and external risks to the

security, confidentiality, and integrity of customer information, and assessing the

sufficiency of any safeguards in place to control those risks; 

(3) designing and implementing information safeguards to control the risks

identified through risk assessment, and regularly testing or otherwise monitoring

the effectiveness of the safeguards’ key controls, systems, and procedures; 

(4) overseeing service providers and requiring them by contract to protect the

security and confidentiality of customer information; and (5) evaluating and

adjusting the information security program in light of the results of testing and

monitoring, changes to the business operation, and other relevant circumstances.

16 C.F.R. §§ 314.3, 314.4. 

14. As described in Paragraphs 7 through 12, respondents failed to implement

reasonable security policies and procedures to protect sensitive consumer

information, and have thereby engaged in violations of the Safeguards Rule by,

among other things:

a. failing to design and implement information safeguards to control the

risks to customer information;

b. failing to regularly test or monitor the effectiveness of its existing controls

and procedures;

c. failing to evaluate and adjust the information security program in light of

known or identified risks; and

d. failing to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information

security program.

VIOLATIONS OF THE FCRA

15. Section 604 of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681b, prohibits a consumer reporting

agency from furnishing a consumer report except for specified “permissible

purposes.” As described in Paragraph 10, in multiple instances, respondents

furnished consumer reports to hackers that did not have a permissible purpose to

obtain a consumer report. By and through the acts and practices described in

Paragraphs 7 through 12, respondents have violated Section 604 of the FCRA, 15

U.S.C. § 1681b.

16. Section 607(a) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(a), requires every consumer
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reporting agency to maintain reasonable procedures to limit the furnishing of

consumer reports to the purposes listed under Section 604 of the FCRA, 15

U.S.C. § 1681b. As described in Paragraphs 7 through 12, respondents failed to

maintain reasonable procedures to limit the furnishing of consumer reports to the

purposes listed under Section 604 of the FCRA. By and through the acts and

practices described in Paragraphs 7 through 12, respondents have violated Section

607(a) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(a). 

17. Section 607(a) of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(a), prohibits a consumer

reporting agency from furnishing a consumer report to any person if it has

reasonable grounds for believing that the consumer report will not be used for a

permissible purpose. As described in Paragraphs 10 through 12, in numerous

instances, respondents furnished consumer reports under circumstances in which

they had reasonable grounds for believing that the reports would not be used for a

permissible purpose. By and through the acts and practices described in

Paragraphs 10 through 12, respondents have violated Section 607(a) of the FCRA,

15 U.S.C. § 1681e(a). 

18. By their violations of Sections 604 and 607(a) of the FCRA, and pursuant to

Section 621(a) thereof, 15 U.S.C. § 1681s, respondents have engaged in unfair

and deceptive acts and practices in or affecting commerce, in violation of Section

5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a).

VIOLATIONS OF THE FTC ACT

19. As described in Paragraphs 7 through12, respondents have not employed

reasonable and appropriate measures to secure the personal information they 

maintain and sell. Respondents’ failure to employ reasonable and appropriate

security measures to protect consumers’ personal information has caused or is

likely to cause substantial injury to consumers that is not offset by countervailing

benefits to consumers or competition and is not reasonably avoidable by

consumers. This practice was, and is, an unfair act or practice in or affecting

commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15

U.S.C. § 45(a).

THEREFORE, the Federal Trade Commission this seventeenth day of August, 2011, has

issued this complaint against respondents.

By the Commission.

Richard C. Donohue

Acting Secretary