Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
The recent COMB breach is being labelled as the biggest data leak of all time, with billions of email addresses and passwords exposed online.
The pairs of emails and passwords are said to amount to 3.2 billion, meaning a huge proportion of internet users may have been affected.
The COMB breach is damning proof of the cybercrime crisis affecting the world, suggesting that data theft appears to be out of control. Although cybercriminals are developing more sophisticated ways of hacking databases, it is also true that some data controllers are not taking their data protection duties as seriously as they need to be. The monumental COMB breach should be a wake-up call to all companies and organisations that hold and process private information, particularly those which do not have the cybersecurity defences that the law requires of them.
Identity theft can be one of the most pervasive and harmful effects of data breaches. It can be caused when criminals misuse exposed personal data when they impersonate the person that the information belongs to. This can involve making unauthorised transactions on your accounts, to obtaining genuine identity documents in your name. Victims may be able to claim compensation for identity theft if the underlying cause of a breach is linked to a third-party organisation exposing your information to misuse.
Despite the fact that UK citizens have legal rights to data protection, many third-party data controllers fail to observe their duties to hold and process information securely. Where these failures constitute a breach of the GDPR, we help victims to claim compensation for the exposure of their personal data.
We are happy to advise anyone who has fallen victim to a data breach, so please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss your potential claim.
In early March last year, it was revealed that LOQBOX, a UK financial services company, had been hit by a cyberattack. In the fallout, it emerged that the LOQBOX cyberattack had exposed customer data, so we began early investigations into the circumstances and consequences of the data breach.
Although news of the breach broke over a year ago, those affected still have time to make a compensation claim for any harm that they have suffered. If LOQBOX is found to have endangered customer information due to poor data protection practices, there must be repercussions.
To find out if you might have a claim to make, you can call us today or request a call-back using our online form.
Malicious email data breaches appear to be on the rise as organisations and individuals are increasingly targeted by scams and viruses via email.
When a criminal uses this method of attack, there can be a far-reaching impact on data security, and it is important for victims to know their rights.
While many email systems can block such emails or warn users about potentially malicious content, unfortunately, errors can be made, causing the targets to unwittingly trigger a data breach. If an organisation has put your data at risk in an incident like this, you may be eligible to claim compensation for any harm caused. When organisations fail to uphold data security, they may be liable for causing a data breach, and we could be able to hold them accountable under the law.
Just over a year has passed since the MGM Resorts data breach was revealed, after a security breach resulted in the monumental leak of customer information.
The breach fell in line with the ongoing trend of data breaches in the travel and tourism industry, which has affected several other major companies, including British Airways and easyJet.
Although the news of the breach emerged last February, we can still take on claims for affected customers from England and Wales. Victims may be eligible to receive compensation pay-outs for any harm that they have suffered.
The 2020 surge in ransomware healthcare attacks has highlighted how healthcare organisations have become more vulnerable to cyberattacks during the coronavirus pandemic. While many of us have turned to remote working over the past year, ransomware has long been a remote access tool for cybercriminals, allowing them to breach systems and take control of computer servers and machines from anywhere in the world.
In the UK, we constantly hear that our health service is constrained by limited resources, but few stop to consider the impact that this has on data privacy. Faced with outdated hardware and cybersecurity software in some cases, healthcare organisations could have poor defences against cyberattacks. They can, therefore, be risking the exposure of patient and employee data on a daily basis.
Every UK citizen has a right to have their personal information kept safe and secure by third-party organisations. This could mean that you may be entitled to claim compensation in the event that your data has been exposed. For free, no-obligation advice, contact us today to talk to a member of our specialist data breach team.
According to an article from HoldtheFrontPage, the Midlands News Association has recently suffered a data security incident that led to the publication of private details belonging to journalists.
This is understood to have included journalists who were employed by the newspaper as far back as 2011. It is believed that an unauthorised third party was able to access the data, and that they chose to post the stolen information online.
All data controllers have a legal responsibility to ensure that the data disclosed to them is stored and processed securely. If they ever fail to uphold this duty, they can be held to account under the law. If it is found to have breached data protection law, the Midlands News Association could be liable to pay compensation to those affected. Anyone who has been notified of their involvement in the data breach can contact us to make an enquiry about their potential compensation claim.
In the penultimate week of March, retail chain Fat Face reportedly sent an email to customers notifying them of a breach that had first been identified in mid-January. Reportedly sent to thousands of affected customers, the email revealed that private data had been accessed by an unauthorised user for a limited period of time. It has also been alleged that customers were told to keep the notification of the Fat Face data breach private, and that the company has allegedly paid a ransom to a cybercrime gang.
These claims have yet to be fully verified, but there are still several issues arising out of the Fat Face data breach. The company’s notification to customers appears to be delayed at best, which raises questions about whether Fat Face followed the correct data breach notification procedures. At this stage, we do not know, and we will need to find out.
In any case, the victims whose private information was exposed could now fall victim to data misuse. If it emerges that Fat Face was at fault, victims may be eligible to make compensation claims, and we are already taking claims forward for this incident.
Amey has joined the growing list of construction companies affected by hacks, after suffering the blow of a ransomware attack in mid-December last year. The Amey cyberattack reportedly exposed extensive company data, including information relating to employees and business transactions.
With much of the data being dumped on the hacker group’s leak site, the cyberattack has produced a substantial breach of company privacy that could significantly affect the operations of the infrastructure support service provider. As a giant of the industry, the Amey breach will likely raise concerns in the UK construction sector, with other companies worrying if they may be the next target.
Cyberattacks can be a common reason for the occurrence of data breaches, as criminals often target company databases to gain access to huge swathes of information. There is one type of attack that is particularly malicious in nature: when databases with highly sensitive data are hacked and the victims are held to ransom by cybercriminals, perhaps seeking payment in return for a vow that they will not misuse or publish the information.
These can sometimes be empty promises, placing the victims in danger whether they choose to pay up or reject the ransom. Unfortunately, poor data security of some organisations can often be the reason as to why victims end up in this defenseless position in the first place, as weaknesses in their systems could allow cybercriminals to break through.
If you have been put in a precarious situation due to a ransomware attack, we are here to advise you on your potential right to claim data breach compensation from those responsible for negligence.
EasyJet admits data of nine million hacked
British Airways data breach: How to claim up to £6,000 compensation
Are you owed £5,000 for the Virgin Media data breach?
Virgin Media faces £4.5 BILLION in compensation payouts
BA customers given final deadline to claim compensation for data breach
Shoppers slam Morrisons after loyalty points stolen
Half a million customers can sue BA over huge data breach
Lawyers accuse BA of 'swerving responsibility' for data breach
The biggest data breaches of 2020
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