Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Does a company have to report a data breach?

The simple answer is – at the moment – no.

Companies and organisations are responsible for data breaches, but don’t have to report them, although it’s generally deemed as good practice to report a breach. However, they do not always have a legal obligation to report a data breach under the Data Protection Act (DPA), but this is all set to change in 2018 when the EU GDPR comes into force.

So, in the near future, reporting certain breaches will actually be mandatory…
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How punishable is the misuse of private information?

In a world where millions of files can be transferred in mere seconds at the click of a button, it’s hard to keep on top of who knows what these days. With today’s ever-advancing technology, one photograph can go viral on a worldwide scale in a matter of minutes.

For those of us who prefer our most personal information to not be broadcast and shared with the world, it can be difficult to keep it private nowadays. The Data Protection Act (DPA) helps with this since it came into force in 1998, and it tells us that, in England and Wales, personal information must be protected and tightly controlled.

Any misuse of private information can be punishable.
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Reportedly, only 25% of companies can detect data hacks or data leaks

According to some research, as little as 25% of companies have the technology installed to detect hacking and data breaches.

This is a shocking fact, but not at all surprising; and it’s a reminder of how the huge cyber hacks like the TalkTalk one from 2015 ended up happening. They, as many have been in the past, were just too slow to realise a hack had occurred, and by the time they knew, hundreds of thousands of customers had already had their data accessed.

If only a quarter of businesses can detect these hacks, we’re set for a bleak future when it comes to cybersecurity.
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Medical data still the most commonly breached information

Healthcare breaches are common, but it can also be a case of them being more likely to be reported. Whichever way you look at it, something needs to be done about the continually growing trend of medical data breaches.

All those who work in the healthcare sector have a duty to not disclose, mishandle, or misuse a patients’ personal information. In fact, this is the very foundation of a patient / doctor relationship. However, while most people believe their personal information is protected, data breaches by the NHS and the healthcare sector remain far too common.
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The 2016 Tesco bank hack – when banks are breached

It’s a rare thing for a bank to suffer a data breach, but around this time last year people were left fearful after Tesco suffered a massive security breach in their banking branch.

Reportedly, around 40,000 Tesco Bank accounts were affected with money taken from some 20,000 accounts.

At least £2.5 million was stolen in what was deemed as one of the biggest, successful attacks on a bank to have ever occurred, and potentially the very first, large-scale attack where money was directly stolen from a bank.
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A look back at the 2015 TalkTalk hack

We are now two years on from the TalkTalk hacking scandal, and we are helping a number of individuals claim compensation as victims of the breach. In October 2015, TalkTalk was yet again subject to another data breach by hackers when around 157,000 customers had their personal information reportedly accessed. The hack exposed some customers’ names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses. For around 10% of the victims, this also reportedly included bank details, raising fears that accounts could have been accessed.

Hackers used software to illegally access information and then appeared to upload the company’s weaknesses on the internet. It is thought that none of the personal information accessed was encrypted.
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Hundreds of popular websites leaking personal data claim experts

Data security studies have revealed that there are literally hundreds of popular websites and mobile applications leaking personal information. Previous studies suggested even the Royal Mail is one such business leaking data, which goes to show the extent of the problem.

Many of the websites and apps researchers say are guilty of leaking data have an international reach, meaning people from all over the world could be victims to these data leaks. Studies so far have been focused on personally identifiable information (PII), which is data that can be directly linked to the owner.

This is worrying.
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When Europol suffered a data breach

A law enforcement agency suffering a data breach is a worrying thought, especially one as big as Europol – but it can and did happen.

Last year, Europol admitted they were subject to a rather shocking data leak when one of their former employees – a former Dutch police officer – breached the agency’s policies by taking home a confidential file that contained extremely sensitive information on multiple terrorist investigations.

A story from 2016 that’s similar to the recent Heathrow USB device found containing all sorts of sensitive security information, it goes to show the worrying reality that even the forces who are there to protect us can fall foul of a data breach.
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Uber “paid off” hackers to keep quiet on a data breach involving 57 million users

Uber has revealed that the company’s database was hacked in October last year, but instead of alerting authorities and warning users about the breach, they instead paid hackers around £75,000 to keep quiet about the hack, and for assurances that the information would be deleted.

Former chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, reportedly made the decision to cover-up the Uber hack, and it was a decision that cost him his job, his deputy’s job, and risked the security of some 56 million people around the world.
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Former Yahoo CEO and Equifax CEO’s testify for largest data breaches in history

The former Yahoo CEO and Equifax CEO were grilled over perceived failings surrounding two of the world’s largest data breaches in history.

Hackers easily got through both companies’ security systems and stole personal data belonging to millions of people. For two large organisations like Yahoo and Equifax, you’d think such breaches would never happen at all…

Both former company representatives reportedly started out by saying how they’d “changed” since the breaches, but they apparently also struggled when facing intense questioning.
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