Speaking to a packed room of data privacy and corporate in-house attorneys at the American Bar Association Section of Litigation’s Annual Conference last week, Laura Berger, an attorney in the Division of Privacy and Identity Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, confirmed that “failing to provide appropriate employee training and oversight” on data breach prevention, including PCI compliance, is among the most common, and often most costly, mistakes companies make when it comes to avoiding data breaches and the enormous liabilities they entail.

As the recent court decision in the FTC’s lawsuit against Wyndham hotels demonstrates, nowhere is the need for appropriate training more vital than in the hotel and hospitality industries.

The Venza Group has partnered with the law firm Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG) to create a series of interactive eLearning modules to address PCI compliance in the hotel industry. Management, employees and IT are taught about the requirements they must support as part of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.  The Venza Group also has partnered with AGG to create an interactive eLearning module to train hoteliers on general privacy and security awareness issues and on sexual harassment prevention.