Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

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.
read more

By Author

“Every little (cybersecurity) helps” – 20,000 Tesco customer bank accounts accessed in cyber attack

Tesco are the latest corporation to fall victim to a major cyber-attack.

It’s thought that 20,000 customer bank accounts were affected following an attack, leading to a full investigation with the National Crime Agency which is now well underway.

This is also thought to be the first time a bank has acted very publicly about such an attack. There has long been concerns about what organisations are keeping from us. in terms of cybersecurity issues…
read more

By Author

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.
read more

By Author

“Personal Devices Used as a Weapon to Hack” – DDoS attacks on DNS service provider, Dyn, led to many users losing internet connection recently

Millions of personal devices connected to the internet were used as a weapon to assist the cyber attacks that happened on Friday 21st October.

The tools assisted the cyber hackers to launch a huge DDoS cyber attack against major websites – the target of the attack being a DNS service provider, Dyn, based in New Hampshire, U.S.

It was a huge attack.
read more

By Author

Threat to Johnson & Johnson’s cyber-security could lead to insulin overdose

Another hacking scandal comes from beneath the murky waters of the World Wide Web.

This time, it’s Johnson & Johnson.

The pharmaceutical manufacturers are warning patients of a cyber-attack where a hacker is thought to have access to the medical pumps that could administer more insulin than necessary, causing diabetic patients to overdose.

It goes without saying, this is a potentially serious issue.
read more

By Author

“Did Weebly do enough to fend off the hackers?” – Weebly and Foursquare in a potential breach of their customers’ personal information

In the string of data breaches this decade has given rise to, website builder Weebly are next in line.

It’s thought that 43 million users’ personal details were leaked as part of a massive breach. I can say with certainty that this will not be the end of data breaches, as many companies and organisations lack the security and protection needed to fend off the cyber-criminals of today. However, it is not enough for companies to be reactive; they need to be proactive to ensure the safety of our personal data.

Especially a company like Weebly who are handling websites for people and businesses around the world!
read more

By Author

“Medical records are the new hot commodity” – The scale of healthcare hacks are massive, with some 10 million medical records reportedly for sale on the ‘dark web’

10 million medical records for sale on the so-called ‘dark web’ – that is frightening!!!

The scale of healthcare hacks seems to be on the rise, and it does not show any signs of slowing down at the moment.

This is a massive threat to data protection and privacy. Earlier this year, there was a record of 10 million medical records apparently for sale on the ‘dark web’ that were reportedly stolen from a big U.S. insurance company.
read more

By Author

“What Took So Long?” – Why did Yahoo wait two years to release information on the hacking scandal which affect half a billion users?

The Yahoo hack serves an important piece of advice: that millions of email accounts are at high risk of hacking all the time.

More than half a billion Yahoo user accounts were hacked in late 2014, with 8 million of them being here in the U.K – yet the figure was only released a couple of weeks ago.

So why did it take so long for the world to find out about the Yahoo email hack?
read more

By Author

“Be Careful Who You Trust” – Hackers may not be the only threat to our personal data, but organisations may be too!

When you pass your personal details to someone you trust, you would expect them to keep them safe. You would expect the same with an organisation who have a professional obligation to do whatever it takes to protect their customers’ details as well. Or you would hope…

But as most people are already aware, this is not always the case.
read more

By Author

“Security Breach that Cost TalkTalk £400k” – The major telecom company fined for the lack of security protection of customer accounts

Can you put a figure on stolen data? You can in terms of fines and compensation payouts.

Major U.K. telecom company TalkTalk has been fined £400,000 for the cyber-attack which happened in October last year. Up to 4 million customer details were thought to have been accessed, but it was later confirmed that around 157,000 accounts were directly accessed in the breach.
read more

By Author