Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
In February last year, it was revealed that Redcar and Cleveland Council had fallen prey to a cyber-attack, bringing many of its online resident services to a standstill for a prolonged period of time. Although systems were eventually repaired and services reinstated, the effects of the cyberattack are still being felt now, over a year after the attack, primarily in the huge financial toll it took on the council.
In fact, the government has been set to intervene to help the council with the funding, after millions of pounds were expended on the effort of rebuilding its systems. The prolonged recovery work raises questions about whether Redcar and Cleveland Council’s systems should have been stronger in order to defend against the attack in the first place, and whether the council had an attack response plan in place before they were hit.
This all shows how costly an attack can be, and why it is always so much better to take preventative action instead of an event taking place.
Despite looking up private police records without authorisation, a Detective Sergeant has recently evaded dismissal following a misconduct hearing. In the Northamptonshire detective data breach case, the Detective Sergeant reportedly looked up the details of a woman with whom he was engaging in an extra-marital relationship with at the time, who was involved in a case he was working on.
His actions reportedly amounted to misconduct, so the Northamptonshire Police appear to be sending mixed messages by not taking the matter any further. The police can, and often do, dismiss officers for similar offences, but this officer’s acceptance of the accusations against him, and his standing in the force, seem to have allowed him to avoid further consequences.
Police data breaches like this should be treated with the severity that they merit, taking account of the potential damage such actions can cause. Police services cannot afford to let employees off lightly for breaching data access regulations, as doing so could risk compromising the force’s reputation and its overall data security and integrity.
Around two years ago, the Police Federation of England and Wales was hit by a cyberattack, and we began taking claims forward soon after the data breach incident occurred. Although it was initially believed that no personal information affected, it was nevertheless a possibility that employee data may have been exposed to unauthorised access.
The case against the Police Federation is one of many data breach group actions we are pursuing. As leading specialists in data breach claims, we are fighting for justice in a number of high-profile actions, including those against Equifax, Virgin Media and British Airways.
As with all our data breach group actions, we are offering No Win, No Fee representation to eligible victims of the Police Federation data breach. You can contact us today if you are considering starting a claim.
NHS CCTV cameras have reportedly been embroiled in a hack affecting security footage across the globe, after security company Verkada is understood to have been breached by hackers. It is said that live streams for as many as 150,000 Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras may have been viewed by unauthorised users.
Serving organisations include prisons, general businesses, schools and even psychiatric hospitals. The breach of Verkada’s cameras may have exposed the identities of many people working in, living in, or visiting affected institutions.
It is unclear exactly which feeds hackers may have viewed and what they gleaned from the footage, but it is nevertheless worrying to learn that a security firm has been subjected to such a wide-reaching breach. There is currently no evidence that any NHS camera feeds were viewed by hackers, but Verkada lists the NHS as one of its clients on the company website. Hackers have also claimed that they have been able to access the cameras of any of the affected organisations.
Recent coverage has revealed that action taken by bank employees and police prevented some £45m of fraud in 2020, saving customers from the loss of an average of almost £6,000 each. The figure is a testament to the success of the Banking Protocol scheme that encourages banks and the police to work together to protect consumers.
However, the huge £45m sum is also a sign of the scale of fraud in the UK. As leading, specialists in data protection law, we believe that the link between data breaches and fraud is a problem that needs to be addressed. When a third-party organisation fails to protect your personal information, it may be leaked into the hands of cybercriminals, who may attempt to steal from you via various kinds of manipulative scams.
We believe that it is essential that all data controllers are held to account when they fail to observe their legal duties. We have helped thousands of consumers to recover the compensation that they deserve, so we encourage any data breach victims to come forward for free, no-obligation advice on their potential claims.
In June 2018, the Shurgard data breach came to our attention, and we began to advise those affected by the incident. It was found that an internal error had led to personal information about employees being mistakenly shared, allegedly with all employees in the company.
It may seem that internal company data breaches are not as severe as those that provoke widespread public data exposure but, in fact, incidents such as these can be highly serious for those affected. Data protection errors must be avoided in all circumstances, as even the most basic of mistakes can have harmful implications.
All businesses and organisations in possession of personal data have a legal obligation to protect this information to the best of their abilities. Where they fail to meet this obligation, it can constitute a breach of data protection law. Those affected by the Shurgard data breach, or any other incident like this, may have a right to recover compensation for a data breach incident. To hear more about your potential right to claim, contact our specialist data breach team for free, no-obligation advice.
In June 2018, it was revealed that survey company Typeform had suffered a data breach. The company reportedly became aware of the issue on 27th June, identifying that an attack had led to hackers downloading what was described to be a “partial backup” of its customer data. When we learned of the breach, we offered advice to those affected, and victims may still be able to make a Typeform data breach claim as part of the action that we are pursuing.
In accordance with UK data protection law, all those who disclose their information to third parties have a right to the protection of their personal information. Typeform’s customers, therefore, justifiably expected that they could trust Typeform with their data. Unfortunately, instead, some were greeted with the news that their information had been exposed.
As leading specialists in data breach claims, Your Lawyers (t/a The Data Leak Lawyers) helps those affected by data exposure to claim the compensation that they deserve. Although three years have passed since the Typeform data breach was revealed, more victims may still have a chance to make a claim, so contact our team for more advice if you were affected. We are already helping others on a No Win, No Fee basis.
July 2021: it has been widely reported that British Airways has settled claims for victims of their 2018 data breaches. The airline will likely see the British Airways data breach claim settlement as an opportunity to draw a line under the legal action against them, but the claim process is, in fact, far from over – so don’t worry! Only one subset of the 420,000 victims of the data breach have settled claims, so those who have yet to claim still have a chance to claim with us.
Due to an agreement of confidentiality between the parties involved, the compensation amounts for the British Airways data breach claim settlement have not been disclosed. Our group of claimants still have a chance to potentially receive thousands of pounds in damages as a fair settlement of their claims.
Since the British Airways data breaches occurred in 2018, we have been seeking justice for those affected. We want to ensure our claimants can receive the maximum possible compensation pay-outs, and we continue to fight hard for the victims of the British Airways data breach that we represent.
In June 2018, Ticketmaster revealed that a security incident had affected its website, causing the personal information of customers to be exposed. Discovered on 23rd June, the information was exposed due to the actions of an external hacker, but questions were raised regarding how far the incident had been caused by Ticketmaster’s own alleged negligence. We began taking on claims soon after the breach was announced, and we are now running our Ticketmaster data group action to ensure that those affected can receive the compensation that they deserve.
The breach has potentially demonstrated how insufficient cybersecurity could be responsible for mass information exposure. Thousands of customers had sensitive payment details exposed as a result of what we understand to be a system vulnerability, so we believe that Ticketmaster must answer for what has happened.
If you have been affected by this data breach, you can contact our team to find out if you have a compensation claim to make.
A woman has recently reported receiving the coronavirus test result of another unknown woman, reportedly sent in a text message by the NHS. Not only did the text reveal the negative test status of the unknown woman, it is understood that it also listed her full name, birth date and the result of her test. The recipient of the message has expressed concern that such a data breach was allowed to occur, particularly given that she took a coronavirus test in early January.
Concerns about data privacy have been linked to the Test and Trace system since its beginnings, with several data breach incidents linked to the scheme, including a major error by Public Health Wales. It is concerning that data privacy has fallen short on occasions in the effort to control the Covid-19 outbreak, especially given that mistakes such as misdirected texts can be so easily avoided.
The Test and Trace system may be designed to protect public health, but that does not mean data breaches like this can go unnoticed.
EasyJet admits data of nine million hacked
British Airways data breach: How to claim up to £6,000 compensation
Are you owed £5,000 for the Virgin Media data breach?
Virgin Media faces £4.5 BILLION in compensation payouts
BA customers given final deadline to claim compensation for data breach
Shoppers slam Morrisons after loyalty points stolen
Half a million customers can sue BA over huge data breach
Lawyers accuse BA of 'swerving responsibility' for data breach
The biggest data breaches of 2020
Fill out our quick call back form below and we'll contact you when you're ready to talk to us.
