We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
Should Equifax board members be sacked over the data breach? According to a recent shareholder’s meeting, the answer is reportedly “no”.
Despite the monumental Equifax data breach that occurred last year – an action our Data Leak Lawyers are pursuing on behalf of a number of victims – shareholders have reportedly voted to keep board members in.
It’s common for a number of high-level jobs to be lost following huge data breach scandals like the Equifax one, but in this case, the directors appear to have the backing of the shareholders.
TSB bank could face fines for data breach issues related to the system outage problem they suffered last month.
Many customers were left unable to properly use their accounts online and via their app for several days after a system upgrade reportedly went wrong. Some customers were unable to view their accounts, make payments or transfer money, with countless angry customers turning to social media to vent their frustrations.
Ikea are reportedly investigating a data breach over a cyber-security incident involving their jobs marketplace, known as TaskRabbit.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is said to be aware of the incident.
Ikea has asked users of the app and website service that allows people to search for freelance workers for odd jobs like cleaning, gardening and furniture assembly, to change passwords ASAP. Anyone who may use the same password for other sites is also being told they should change passwords for other accounts as well.
There has been another prosecution over the access of patient records without authorisation in the NHS.
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined and prosecuted Michelle Harrison, formerly employed by Milton Keynes Hospital Trust, for accessing patient records without authorisation. Harrison reportedly pleaded guilty to improperly accessing the records of 12 people without any need or authorisation to do so.
This prosecution is the latest in a long line the ICO has had to enforce against NHS staff accessing medical records when they shouldn’t be.
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.
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