Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Despite data breaches spike most U.K. businesses are confident in preparedness of a breach

This year has seen some of the biggest data breaches and hacks ever seen. Only this summer we witnessed NHS computers attacked by malware demanding a ransom, forcing many hospitals and surgeries to practically shut down across the U.K.

The business sector has also suffered their fair amount of data breaches this year as well. Experts are forever telling us that cybercriminals continue to evolve their techniques, but despite these warnings, businesses are reportedly “gravely optimistic about their ability to deter and cope with malicious attacks.”

Its hardly convincing, is it?
read more

By Author

Aetna sued for revealing HIV statuses of 12,000 patients

Health insurer, Aetna Inc, is being sued for a serious oversight that reportedly revealed the HIV status of around 12,000 patients when a letter was sent out to customers with large clear windows that referenced HIV medication.

It’s a monumental blunder that’s similar to the London sexual health clinic, 56 Dean Street breach, where an email was sent to over 700 patients with names and email addresses for recipients visible. We act for a large proportion of the people claiming in that action.

The clear window is of course intended to be clear, so the address is shown for posting, but this doesn’t change the fact that the letter clearly hadn’t been properly planned out given that private medical information was visible too.
read more

By Author

Employees reportedly need updated data security training

As technology in industry improves, many employees are being provided with more and more advanced devices and software to help for a more efficient workplace. From unified portals to mobile devices, employees are often given shiny new tools to work with all the time; but do they know how to use them safely?

A significant proportion of data breaches can result from employee mistakes: from accidental emails being sent, to uploading information online, and hackers targeting vulnerabilities to gain entry into customer databases. Cybersecurity experts have long identified employees as one of the weakest links when it comes to securing data in organisations.
read more

By Author

‘Park By Text’ customers may have been impacted by data breach

The mobile parking service – Park By Text – allows users of certain car parks to pay on their smartphones have announced they’ve been subject to a cyberattack, and customers may have had personal information stolen as a result.

Park By Text reportedly discovered malicious software in their systems after a service outage. The company says they do not think any customer information was stolen, but “cannot say this with 100% certainty at this stage”, or at least until investigations come to a close.
read more

By Author

Security experts call for faster detection of data breaches

Data breaches seem to be constantly in the news and they seem to be getting bigger, more frequent and more sophisticated.

So, can anything be done to stop them?

While there may be no definitive method to stop all data breaches completely, there are steps which can be taken to help detect them quicker. Of course, it would be preferable to prevent them from happening in the first place, but security experts like Paul White recognise that detection is an imperative part of cybersecurity as well.
read more

By Author

2017 sees a record high in data breaches

It’s not unusual for us to blog about the continual rise of data breaches. It’s a hot topic, and the trend is undeniably worrying.

2017 has reportedly seen a record high in data breaches, and there’s no signs of slowing down.

Cybersecurity specialists Risk Base Security conducted a mid-year report, and the results are staggering. As of June 30^th, there have been 2,227 public data breaches reported. In just six months, a whopping 6 billion records were stolen; that’s reportedly more than the number of stolen records for the whole of 2016.
read more

By Author

Data breaches are on the rise and statistics show it will only get worse

In the past few years, we’ve seen an unprecedented rise in data breaches and there are no signs that things are slowing down.

Statistics show that every year we see more and more data breaches, which can only make us wonder; can we ever be truly safe from a data breach?

With the number of data breaches and the staggering volume of personal information compromised with every breach, it’s probably safe to say that most of us will have some kind of information exposed at some point; and probably more than once.
read more

By Author

Equifax admits hacking may have exposed 145 million customers’ personal information

Consumer credit reporting agency, Equifax, has been subject to a hacking that may have led to vital information being stolen, including the following: Full names; Birth dates; Postal addresses; Social Security details; Driver’s Licence numbers.

Reuters reports that some 209,000 consumers’ credit card information may have been accessed.

This is a breach on a monumental scale, and legal action will no doubt follow the incident. This breach is all over the news, and has been deemed as “one of the largest data breaches” to have occurred.
read more

By Author

Data breach figures may be four times higher than reported

Security experts warn that the number of data breaches and attacks in the Channel Islands could be four times higher than official figures suggest, due to a lack of reporting.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) revealed that Jersey reported 52 cases of data protection breaches, while Guernsey reported a further 43. However, according to Business Development and Technical Director of IT security firm Logicalis, Tom Bale, these figures may only be a quarter of the real sum as not all companies and organisations report breaches to the authorities.
read more

By Author

Uber reaches settlement over inadequate data protection for customers

Uber Technologies Inc agreed a settlement with regulators last month after reportedly failing to protect customers from having their personal information accessed by company employees.

Investigations into the popular alternative taxiing service also found that Uber had perhaps been less than honest with the public about their data protection commitments.

Uber, now worth over £13 billion and offering services in 46 countries, have been accused of simply not caring about the data protection rights of their customers, instead simply focusing on profits. They’ve been accused of simply aiming to “amass the greatest database of consumer habits that the world has ever seen.”
read more

By Author