A step in the right direction and a move in the right direction...

From the Industry Standard:

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reached a settlement with pet food retailer Petco Animal Supplies Inc. of charges that the company's Web site violated federal law by making deceptive security claims.

A security flaw in Petco's Web site left customers' credit card numbers exposed to attackers. The FTC alleges that Petco did not take reasonable measures to protect its Web site and made deceptive claims in stating that customers' credit card numbers would be "shielded from unauthorized access."

Under the terms of the settlement, announced Wednesday, Petco is prohibited from misrepresenting the security of its Web site and must establish a comprehensive security information program, which will be subject to independent audits for the next 20 years, said Alain Sheer, an attorney in the FTC's Division of Financial Practices.

This is a step in the right direction but not enough to encourage responsibility among companies that store financial information.