Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Government digital service department leaks personal information

Many people may have a false sense of security that the Government are able to protect us and our data. Over the years, this belief has decreased massively given there are growing trends of data breaches, with hacks and leaks scarily becoming the norm.

This is exemplified in the Government’s digital service website – www.data.gov.uk – who recently fell victim to a security breach. A spokeswoman said that a database containing usernames and email addresses was discovered on a system which was accessible to the public. This was only discovered during a routine security review.

So, if the government can’t protect themselves, how can we expect them to protect us?!
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77 million user account details hacked from popular education platform Edmodo

Reports of the recent Edmodo data breach inform us that around 77 million unique user account details were stolen from the popular education platform.

This online platform is widely used throughout U.S. and Canadian schools to support learning by allowing students, teachers and parents to access learning plans and homework. Media outlet Motherboard reported that nearly 77 million users account details were for sale on the dark web.
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Members of Parliament and Peers fall victim to brute force hacking attack

A cyber-attack on the U.K Parliament has prompted concerns over national security as rumours are pointing the finger-of-blame towards a hostile state for the hack.

On the 23^rd June 2017, a “sustained and determined cyber attack” was carried out. The hacker(s) attacked MP and Peer IT systems to reportedly get into their email accounts, and were successful in gaining access into 90 accounts.

Although this is only 1% of the 9,000 accounts on the same system, it’s nevertheless worrying in terms of exactly what information hackers may have obtained…
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Hackers publish private information of 25,000 patients from a Lithuanian cosmetic surgery clinic

Another massive cyber-attack in a healthcare industry.

More than 25,000 private photos – including naked images – were made public by hackers on the 30^th May as they gained access to a Lithuanian surgery’s server.

The Grozio Chirurgija clinic based in Kaunas, Lithuania, was hacked earlier this year by a group calling themselves “Tsar Team”. They managed to break into the servers in March, originally releasing a portion of their database alongside a large ransom demand from the surgery.
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Online construction retailer fined for putting hundreds of its customer’s bank details at risk

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has concluded investigations into the online building products supplier, Construction Materials Online Limited (CMO), for breaching data protection principles.

The investigation first began when the online company was hacked back in May 2014.

Cyber criminals managed to identify a security vulnerability and performed an SQL injection into the company’s customer database. This method is commonly used for both destroying databases and stealing information, and in this case, it was to steal bank details from hundreds of customers.
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How much did WannaCry hackers receive from their ransomware attacks?

When the WannaCry ransomware attack was unleashed on 12^th May 2017, it was first believed that it was contained in the U.K. NHS systems – but further reports and investigations showed that the ransomware transpired to be a global epidemic, with over 150 countries affected.

The ransomware attack targeted computers running the Microsoft Windows XP operating system by encrypting data and demanding payments in Bitcoins, ranging from $300 to $600 (£233 to £466). Within a matter of hours, the ransomware had infected systems within various organisations, which included government departments.
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Up to 40 car wash companies hit by cyber-attack – Possible credit card details stolen!

A local car wash company in the U.S. has put their customers’ financial details in jeopardy following a string of reports from car wash companies across the U.S.

Yankee Car Wash & Detailing says it was told on 27^th March 2017 that their point of sale system was hacked, and has most probably compromised customers’ credit card information if they used the service between 8^th February and 3^rd March.
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Tremendous cyber-attack affects almost a hundred countries over the world

One of the worst cyber-attacks this year!

The U.K. was subject to a horrific mass cyber-attack in May 2017 that ground several health providers to a halt.

Chaos and frenzied panic set in when GP surgeries and hospital screens were locked with a ransom demand. Hackers had managed to infiltrate network systems with malicious ransomware, preventing access to records unless the user paid $300 (£240) worth of Bitcoins into a provided account.
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Dating website Guardian Soulmates data breach

Following on from the several big recent hacking scandals where million of users’ personal details have been compromised, Guardian Soulmates – a dating service provided by The Guardian newspaper – are the latest victim of a cyber-hack.

Users of the dating website reportedly received sexually explicit emails following on from the hack. Soulmates usernames and email addresses were exposed by an unknown third-party service provider, according to Guardian News and Media (GNM).
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InterContinental Hotel Group reveals thousands of guests had their credit card details stolen

Owners of Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza suffer huge cyber attack

The giant hoteliers InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) have issued their worrisome findings after conducting an internal investigation into their hotels.

The huge company – owners of popular hotel chains Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza – began their investigation when malicious software was detected on their front desk systems late last year. Whilst the breach into their systems were detected as early as 29 September 2016, traces of the malware is suspected to have remained until March of this year.
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