We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
The scary revelations over the information exposed in the Equifax data breach has come to light.
Not only has it transpired that the Equifax data breach was far worse than originally thought in terms of numbers of people affected, but the full extent of what has been breached – and what volumes are involved – has also now been identified.
It makes for scary reading to see the extent to the personal and sensitive information that has been exposed by the Equifax data breach scandal.
Is enough being done to protect against retail data breaches?
If you look at some of the recent big data breaches involving the likes of Facebook and retailer Under Armour, the impact on them as a businesses has been comparatively small.
People still use Facebook, and people still use Under Armour products, with the latter seeing only a small drop in share value, according to reports. People still need (or want) to use the services that are at the centre of big data breaches, so we need to look at making sure that appropriate punishments are issued to stop retail data breaches happening again.
Third-party outsourcing can lead to a council data protection breach, and as the old saying goes, “you’re only as strong as your weakest link” – which means councils and local authorities are only as good as the private organisations they outsource work to.
This is important, because public sector data breaches are an ongoing problem, and councils can be a prime target for cyber-criminals as well as being vulnerable to leaks and breaches from inadequate procedures and policies.
With councils outsourcing work for the private sector a lot, there is understandable cause for concern.
Oswestry Orthopaedic Hospital has reported a data breach involving patients who were taking part in a study.
The hospital, based in Shropshire near the Welsh border, confirmed the data breach in a report to the Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s governance board. The data breached has been described as confidential information, and an investigation is believed to have been initiated.
It’s understood that the data breach has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
As Equifax counts the cost of the monumental data breach they suffered last year, we’re left wondering why they hadn’t spent enough money on ensuring the data they hold was safe and secure in the first place…
Too many organisations are reactive instead of proactive; only ever spending what they need to when a data breach actually happens.
So far, Equifax is said to have spent around £175m on dealing with the data breach, of which £91m of that was insured. The costs have dealt with the general expenses, IT improvements, and we assume the fines and claims against them, of which our claims will need to be factored into that.
There are allegations of a St Helens council data breach involving recently resigned council leader, Barrie Grunewald.
Any council data protection breach can be serious and can pave the way for legal cases for victims of such a breach; especially when it comes to the nature of the data councils hold. This incident, however, is a little unclear in terms of exactly what has happened.
Police are said to be investigating the alleged data breach which is thought to involve images from a group WhatsApp conversation between St Helens politicians which were allegedly obtained from a mobile phone and subsequently distributed. Mr Grunewald has said that the allegations are “spurious”, and police investigations remain ongoing.
If Tesla can be hacked, how safe are self-driving cars?
There are already major concerns over whether self-driving vehicles are safe, given that computers can make mistakes that humans may otherwise be able to prevent or correct. There have been a number of incidents already involving self-driving car collisions, but to add another perspective to this issue, what about self-driving cars being hacked?
Tesla was subject to a data breach recently, so how safe will self-driving cars be in terms of cybersecurity?
Inogen Inc. have reported a medical data breach involving some 30,000 customers where the improper access of personal information occurred.
Medical data breaches are a real concern, and medical device data breaches are a current issue given that medical devices in this day and age can be computer controlled and are “smart” devices that can send data from patients to servers elsewhere.
While smart medical devices could undoubtedly save lives as the flow of data can be vitally important for patient wellbeing, medical device data breaches are a monumental worry, which is why any medial data breach involving a device-maker is a cause for alarm.
The ICO has completed a follow-up assessment of Dyfed Powys Police who signed an undertaking last year to improve their data protection compliance. The undertaking meant that the police force had to engage in force-wide data protection training and refresher training, as well as ensuring that training and monitoring was properly recorded to address non-compliance and ensure that security measures are in place to properly protect data.
The involvement of the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) – the UK’s data watchdog – was to ensure that Dyfed Powys Police were upholding their data protection responsibilities after a number of incidents had previously occurred.
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Council data breaches and the GDPR that’s coming into force this month is a key topic for discussion. With councils and other public sector authorities often experiencing high levels of data breaches and data leaks, it’s imperative that enough attention is paid to the new regulations that could see organisations fined a heck of a lot more money for breaching data laws.
We take on and represent a lot of people for council data breaches, so we know how often they happen, and we know how bad they can be for the victims. Given the nature of the data that councils hold, any breach or leak can often be very serious for the victims who are entitled to claim for data protection breach compensation.
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