Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Wigan Council at centre of alarming number of data protection breaches

According to data gleaned from a Freedom of Information request, as reported by Wigan Today, there have been a concerning number of data breaches involving Wigan Council where information of a confidential, sensitive, or protected nature has been accessed or disclosed “in an unauthorised fashion”.

Councils and private companies who local authority agencies outsource work to are high on the list when it comes to data protection breaches, and we advise and represent a large number of people claiming for data protection compensation as a result of a council data breach.

Unfortunately, this news does not come as a surprise to us.
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Serious risk facing Equifax breach victims from scammers and fraudsters!

There is a wealth of information already out there in the public domain about most people. From loads of information accessible by anyone on social media platforms, to the data we share with organisations who may then be passing it around (whether we’re aware or not), there is so much out there.

So, when we have a serious data protection breach like the Equifax hack, the risk for victims is massive. It’s not hard for scammers and fraudsters to be able to find more information online about the Equifax breach victims, meaning the risks are very hard to manage.
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Octoly data leak exposes private information of 12,000 celebrities and influencers

Social media and data protection is a hot topic right now with the Facebook & Cambridge Analytica issue still fresh in our minds.

But this isn’t the only large-scale social media breach of late.

The private data of more than 12,000 prominent “social media influencers”, like celebrities, has reportedly been exposed by a marketing firm who pair stars with top brands for things like product endorsements and reviews.
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Is council data protection and cybersecurity quality a postcode lottery?

Experts have looked in to the differences between councils and local authority services and compared the quality of the cybersecurity and their data protection procedures and protocols. One worrying trend is the fact that there are some huge differences between different councils when it comes to practically all aspects of data security.

This issue means that, in reality, the quality of data protection and cybersecurity can be somewhat of a postcode lottery. There is no single or uniform approach, which is a really worrying aspect.
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Equifax data breach compensation success

It’s pleasing to see that some consumers have already had their cases heard and have been able to receive successful verdicts against the credit-referencing agency at the heart of last year’s huge data protection scandal.

Although Equifax reportedly turned up to court with some very expensive lawyers, a group of claimants managed to convince a judge that they had a case to answer for. This has all happened in America, where cases can often get to a trial much faster than they can here in the UK, but the news can be seen as potentially good news here as well.
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Researchers say catastrophic data breach is inevitable by 2021

According to researchers at the Raytheon and the Ponemon Institute, a staggering 80% of IT and cybersecurity experts believe we may be headed for a data breach of “catastrophic” proportions in the next few years.

The combination of more and more devices connected to the internet, together with the increasing risk of cyberattacks, as well as the growing sophistication of the attacks we’re seeing, is allowing cyber-hackers the perfect platform to do some real damage.

On top of this, with organisations still not taking their cybersecurity responsibilities seriously enough, unless things change, we could be headed for disaster very soon.
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Trusted Quid data breach – some 66,000 payday loan customers hit by breach

We have already been contacted by people affected by the Trusted Quid data protection breach, and our Data Leak Lawyers have agreed to investigate cases.

As many as 66,000 customers of payday loan firm Trusted Cash, trading as Trusted Quid, may have had their data stolen due to an unauthorised access of their website. Customers affected by the breach are now at a greater risk of becoming a victim of fraud as key information was stolen in the breach.

Because of the nature of the data compromised in the cyberattack, this is a very serious data protection breach indeed.

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Councils ‘unprepared’ for cyber-attacks

According to information from a report by privacy advocates Big Brother Watch, despite assurances that local government authorities are taking data protection seriously, more than a quarter of UK councils have had systems breached in the last five years.

The report also found that the majority of the successful breaches were caused by the simple and well-known phishing method, pointing to staff as the “weakest link” in terms of cybersecurity and data defence.

The report also references the fact that three-quarters of councils reportedly do not provide mandatory cyber-security training, with 16% not providing any at all.
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Tesco Travel Money data protection breach advice

Back in 2016, the cybersecurity of Tesco Bank was rigorously questioned, when hackers were able to gain access to 9,000 customers’ accounts and steal £2,500,000.

Tesco also suffered a further breach last week were they reportedly cancelled a number of credit cards over a ‘third-party compromise’.

There has now been another breach where it’s estimated 17,000 Tesco Travel Money customers are subject to this new and massive data protection breach which happened through Travelex – a company that runs services on behalf of Tesco.

Names and payment information are amongst the data that has reportedly been compromised
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Leicester City Council accidentally send spreadsheet to taxi firms containing details of vulnerable adults and children

Leicester City Council accidentally sent an unsecured spreadsheet to 27 taxi firms that reportedly contained sensitive details of potentially thousands of vulnerable adults and children.

The error occurred as the local government authority were processing tenders for transport of people in care and people with special needs.

Although a recall email was sent, there is no telling just how far the data may have inadvertently spread.
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