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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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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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Freedom of press vs data protection – the big debate

As we prepare ourselves for the General Data Protection Regulation, an updated version of the Data Protection Bill is making its way through Parliament. The bill will hopefully give people more control over their personal data and greater enforcement powers when organisations don’t keep it safe or misuse it.

In addition to this, the House of Lords changed the way reporters can obtain and use personal information in the name of public interest. This means individuals can make a claim for their private information not to be disclosed before it’s already plastered on the headlines.

Some news outlets are not happy about it!
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After compromising over 145 million people’s financial data records, Equifax responds by producing an app…

Equifax have faced heavy criticism for a series of failings around the data breach that exposed over 145 million people’s personal data records, with almost 700,000 Brits caught up in the scandal. It was bad enough that a company responsible for credit referencing was easily hacked, especially given that the hack was down to Equifax failing to patch a known security vulnerability.

Their handling of the breach has been heavily criticised by authorities, experts and regulators. There are allegations of delays and failures to report the breach; an arguably dangerous website set up for people to check whether they were affected (which fraudsters can copy to lure people to give away information); and now an app, which is arguably one of worst offenders in terms of breaches and leaks of information.
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Nursing and Midwifery Council dismisses NHS midwife for snooping on medical records

A ‘nosy’ midwife has been sacked by the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust after she was discovered to have viewed confidential medical records belonging to friends, colleagues and other acquaintances.

Thirty-eight-year-old Vicky Anne Bloxham lost her job as a midwife for the illegal snooping carried out between 2002 and 2016.

In 2016 alone, Bloxham reportedly reviewed the medical records of some 45 friends and acquaintances without authorisation, with one person’s records accessed 13 times in a four-month period.
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USB device containing confidential Heathrow Airport data found miles away on a London residential street

Confidential and secretive information for Heathrow Airport was reportedly found on a USB device some 13 miles from the site in a random London neighbourhood, prompting questions over the quality of the U.K.’s airport security.

The data on the device was also found to have had no encryption and wasn’t even password-protected; arguably the most rudimentary security measure that should be implemented for any type of information worth protecting.

How confidential data concerning the U.K.’s largest airport – and potentially a huge target for terrorist attacks – could be removed in this manner is incredibly worrisome.
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Australian ‘Amazing Rentals’ uploads thousands of personal documents online

Australian appliance-rental company, Amazing Rentals, are in trouble with Australian authorities yet again for behaviour that has prompted government discussions over the need to crack down on bad business behaviour.

Around mid-September this year, the Guardian reported that Amazing Rentals “published 26,000 personal documents involving 4,000 customers on the internet.” No further information was provided as to what the details included, but clear concerns were aired over identity theft and credit fraud.

The Australian Information Commissioner’s Office shut down Amazing Rental’s website shortly thereafter and warned the retailer’s customers to take precautions against identity theft and other forms of fraud.
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Businesses need to communicate more about their data breaches; before and after they happen.

Data breaches can be very embarrassing for a business. Being attacked by hackers can undermine the control the business has over its own systems and databases, and it can hamper the loyalty of their customers.

The embarrassment can be even worse if the data breach occurred as a result of an employee error.

After a data breach, the trends we witness for an affected business vary depending on how a breach is handled… For businesses that try to conceal a breach and are found out via other channels the backlash can be brutal as share prices drop, customers leave to do business elsewhere and the reputation of the brand takes a battering in the media.
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Are British businesses sweeping data breaches under the carpet?

With the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) looming, it seems that British businesses may have a long way to go when it comes to straightening up to comply with the new European regulations.

They come in to force in May next year – the clock is ticking!

It appears that firms in Britain may reportedly have a culture of keeping data breaches a secret and not reporting them; perhaps for fear of repercussions or simply because they don’t know what to do. But such behaviour simply will not do…
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