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17-year-old was reportedly “just showing off” to friends when he hacked TalkTalk!

TalkTalk’s data breach has cost them a total of 42 million pounds so far – and it’s all because a teenager was trying to show off to his mates…

At 17 years of age, you’re expected to go out with friends, go shopping, do some homework, etc ; all the usual stuff…

But not the 17-year-old who successfully hacked telecoms giant TalkTalk…

The minor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged for the TalkTalk hacking in October 2015, which has led to hundreds of thousands of people being at risk of further fraud from criminals.
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“Former NHS employee breaches data protection” – The ICO has fined a former employee around £1,300

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) prosecuted and fined a former NHS employee, Beverley Wooltorton, for the unlawful access of personal information.

The fine imposed amounted to around £1,300 under section 55 of the Data Protection Act (DPA), where it’s unlawful for individuals to obtain personal data ‘knowingly’ (in this case) or ‘recklessly’ without the consent of the data controller, as well as accessing the information for personal reasons.
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“Home Office request data of 2,500 children” – The Home Office’s request for schools consensus data may be a breach of data protection rights

The Home Office’s demands for schools’ census data may be a breach of human rights and data protection rights. They have requested information for some 2,500 children in relation to immigration enforcement over the past 15 months.

This in itself is a pretty sensitive subject off the back of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. But equally as important is the fact that this request may actually be a breach of people’s rights.
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The 56 Dean Street Clinic Breach – A look back on what happened

Last year in September, a sexual health clinic based in Soho, London, revealed almost 800 of their patients’ private information to each other by mistake – i.e. the other patients – when an email was sent to the list of people where the names and addresses for the other recipients were not hidden.

This has resulted in one of the biggest data breaches in the history of the NHS, and has led to us fighting for the rights of numerous people who have been affected by the breach.
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WP29’s open letter to Yahoo to explain mass data breach, involving more than 500 million user accounts

Following the massive Yahoo data leak – which involved over 500 million user accounts being accessed – the EU’s Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (WP29) has put tremendous pressure on the multinational technology company to explain the breach.

This can only be a good thing – these mass data breach organisations need to be held to account, and need to be robustly questioned on how they have managed to allow such breaches to happen!
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“More control over our data” – The Privacy Commission calls for greater control over personal data in Australia

Australia are reportedly lagging behind many countries in terms of their data protection; as evidenced in the recent Red Cross Blood Service data breach, which was dubbed the “largest data breach in Australian history“.

Now, the Privacy Commission, along with many other organisations, are calling for an independent agency to act as a watchdog of the use of their citizens’ data.

Of course, we welcome such moves.
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“Has Facebook really got our best interests at heart?” – Facebook may have ulterior motives for rejecting Admiral’s cheaper car insurance plan

Following on from Admiral’s seemingly crazy suggestion of providing cheaper car insurance to new or young drivers if they grant access to their Facebook profiles, I admired Facebook’s response and its mission to uphold our privacy.

However, the Guardian reports that Facebook might have declined Admiral’s suggestion as the social media giants want to be the only ones with exclusive access to our data.

Could there be some truth to this?
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“Cheaper car insurance if you give us access to your Facebook profile” – Admiral wants to create a new service which could potentially breach data privacy rights

In the digital age, where technology is growing faster than we can imagine, it serves as an important reminder that data protection and security must be at the forefront of all our minds.

Recently, car insurance company Admiral suggested using Facebook profiles as a way of assessing who should have cheaper car insurance. Facebook has blocked Admiral’s seemingly absurd claims; and rightly so!
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Companies must not drop their security ‘A-Game’ – The rise in data breaches and cybercrime year on year

Businesses and organisations need to keep their ‘A-Game’ as reports show that data breach costs are sharply increasing.

If they do not want to be facing fines and costs for not providing adequate security to their customers, they must step-up.

In the growing digital era, it’s important that companies and organisations are equipped to fend off cyber hackers/attackers, as malicious techniques are used to gain unauthorised access to personal data.
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“iOS and Android are Leaking Data” – The mobile device software providers are leaking all types of data, including metadata, personal data, and location data

In the midst of increasing data protection woes, new reports suggest that the biggest mobile device software services – Android and iOS – are both leaking huge amounts of data.

Not that it matters more, as both are perpetrators of the leaking data, but iOS applications are said to be leaking considerably more when compared with Android.

But both systems leaking data is bad enough!
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