Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog

Are hacked passwords the crux to data breaches?

According to security and risk management company CSO, hacked passwords are reportedly the cause of 81% of data breaches.

Some may then say “users/individuals should be more cautious about what passwords they use” – but what about the responsibility of businesses and organisations to ensure the safety of their users’ personal data?

The impact of one person’s compromised credentials could be felt far and wide…
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U.K. government reportedly breaching personal data at least once an hour

Some may fall into a false sense of security that governmental departments are the safest place for securing data, but latest statistics reveal that personal data held by governmental departments is being breached at least once an hour!

According to the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, there were an astonishing 8,995 data breaches in the largest 17 Whitehall departments back in 2015.

The figure amounts to approximately 24 breaches a day; i.e. one an hour!
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U.K. Firms “very unprepared” for data breaches

Telecommunication companies say they expect the number of breaches to rise over the next year and around 75% of these companies are wary that this is the case.

The study, undertaken by analyst firm Ovum, and commissioned by analytics software firm FICO, found that although 53% of U.K. executives believe there will be a growth in attempts to access data, less than half of firms are likely to direct their resources to enhancing cyber-security. This approach is clearly dangerous and reckless.

They’re aware that more and more people are trying to access data, but they seem to forget that, without effective cyber-security, more and more data breaches will be inevitable.
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Several mainstream apps pay $5.3 million settlement for illegally accessing iOS users’ contacts list

Several popular applications were accused of accessing iPhone user contact address books without their knowledge or consent between 2009 and 2012.

Twitter, Instagram, Yelp and Foursquare are among the companies whose apps were accused of the data breach, and many complaints were made that the practice was a breach of personal privacy. With the number of people affected, the matter was brought to the attention of regulators who found that the social network platform Path were liable for breaches, and a huge settlement has been made.
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University of East Anglia under fire for leaking sensitive and confidential data about students

The University of East Anglia has been hit with anger and disappointment from students and the general public after it was revealed that a member of staff made a horrific error in sending out a spreadsheet listing named students’ extenuating circumstances.

The spreadsheet identified the 40 students by name and student ID number and had their private and confidential information with their names. The list of circumstances included things like family illness and bereavements; mental health problems including depression; and sexual assault cases.

We have already been contacted for advice and we’re investigating the issues.
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Yahoo’s CISO responds to data breach questions

Sometimes the Chief Information Security Officer’s (CISO) role is hidden in the shadows, and they may generally be unheard of. However, Yahoo’s CISO, Bob Lord, has been in the limelight in recent years after two massive data breaches – arguably the biggest ones in recent history – that affected approximately a billion and a half of Yahoo’s users.

Mr Lord made jokes during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt New York saying that he “may have broken a record” for the amount of emails sent. The email that circulated was to inform users of the breach.

Not sure the rest of us are finding this funny…
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“Target” to pay $18.5 million settlement for 2013 data breach

Target has agreed to pay out a whopping $18.5 million to U.S customers after a nationwide data breach.

Millions of customers had their personal information compromised back in 2013.

The data breach affected customers’ contact, account, and billing information. It’s believed that a total of 60 million customers were affected.
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DocuSign data breach puts users at risk

DocuSign – the company that lets users ‘sign’ documents digitally – has admitted they have been hacked.

During the data breach, hackers managed to take user email addresses, and cyber-criminals haven’t wasted any time as multiple users have already reportedly fallen victim to phishing emails.

The lack of delay means that DocuSign didn’t even have time to warn users that their information was compromised and to look out for “malicious third party” activity. Reportedly, users were enticed to click on a harmless looking Microsoft Word document, but the document contained certain malware to steal passwords and banking information.
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Ffrees customer personal information has been exposed in a data breach

Ffrees is an online banking service that lets customers transfer money into their Ffrees account for discounted shopping, where users may benefit from discounts on purchases in various shops

Recently, they have come under fire for data protection and compliance issues.

Ffrees have previously come under scrutiny for their terms and conditions, but now it seems the company has failed to secure their customers’ personal information following a cyber security incident.
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Most UK businesses expect to be a data breach victim this year

According to IT Pro Portal, the “majority of UK businesses expect a data breach this year”.

For those who follow this blog, this probably isn’t news at all…

In the past few years, data breaches are becoming so common that they’re almost a norm. Businesses in the UK are being targeted more and more; either directly or with certain malware worms that seek out vulnerable servers.
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