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After compromising over 145 million people’s financial data records, Equifax responds by producing an app…

Equifax have faced heavy criticism for a series of failings around the data breach that exposed over 145 million people’s personal data records, with almost 700,000 Brits caught up in the scandal. It was bad enough that a company responsible for credit referencing was easily hacked, especially given that the hack was down to Equifax failing to patch a known security vulnerability.

Their handling of the breach has been heavily criticised by authorities, experts and regulators. There are allegations of delays and failures to report the breach; an arguably dangerous website set up for people to check whether they were affected (which fraudsters can copy to lure people to give away information); and now an app, which is arguably one of worst offenders in terms of breaches and leaks of information.
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Nursing and Midwifery Council dismisses NHS midwife for snooping on medical records

A ‘nosy’ midwife has been sacked by the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust after she was discovered to have viewed confidential medical records belonging to friends, colleagues and other acquaintances.

Thirty-eight-year-old Vicky Anne Bloxham lost her job as a midwife for the illegal snooping carried out between 2002 and 2016.

In 2016 alone, Bloxham reportedly reviewed the medical records of some 45 friends and acquaintances without authorisation, with one person’s records accessed 13 times in a four-month period.
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Australian ‘Amazing Rentals’ uploads thousands of personal documents online

Australian appliance-rental company, Amazing Rentals, are in trouble with Australian authorities yet again for behaviour that has prompted government discussions over the need to crack down on bad business behaviour.

Around mid-September this year, the Guardian reported that Amazing Rentals “published 26,000 personal documents involving 4,000 customers on the internet.” No further information was provided as to what the details included, but clear concerns were aired over identity theft and credit fraud.

The Australian Information Commissioner’s Office shut down Amazing Rental’s website shortly thereafter and warned the retailer’s customers to take precautions against identity theft and other forms of fraud.
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ICO publishes useful guides on the new GDPR

Head of policy and engagement at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Jo Pedder, points to useful guidance on the new EU General Data Protection Regulation that is set to come into force come May 2018.

The regulation will bring in some major changes as to how organisations are expected to look after personal data and the responsibilities in disclosing them to the authorities and affected individuals. The changes could mean huge punishments for organisations who fail to take their data protection responsibilities seriously.
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Dyfed-Powys Police Force signs undertaking after multiple data breaches reported

Dyfed-Powys Police Force in Wales signed an undertaking with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after a number of data breaches over an 18 month period were identified.

The ICO was alerted to the seriousness of multiple incidents that indicated a potential lack of data protection training and protocols. Although none of the breaches appear to have had any underlying malicious intent, the ICO recognised the seriousness of the repeated data breaches.
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Equifax hack compromised 15.2 million U.K. records

The gigantic Equifax data breach that saw 143 million U.S. customers have their sensitive credit information breached also affected 15.2 million U.K. records as well. There are thought to be some 700,000 U.K. victims of the breach who may have had their personal and sensitive information stolen.

Equifax has said they will reach out to victims by post to notify them of the data breach and offer free access to some form of data risk mitigation service.
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Businesses need to communicate more about their data breaches; before and after they happen.

Data breaches can be very embarrassing for a business. Being attacked by hackers can undermine the control the business has over its own systems and databases, and it can hamper the loyalty of their customers.

The embarrassment can be even worse if the data breach occurred as a result of an employee error.

After a data breach, the trends we witness for an affected business vary depending on how a breach is handled… For businesses that try to conceal a breach and are found out via other channels the backlash can be brutal as share prices drop, customers leave to do business elsewhere and the reputation of the brand takes a battering in the media.
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Are British businesses sweeping data breaches under the carpet?

With the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) looming, it seems that British businesses may have a long way to go when it comes to straightening up to comply with the new European regulations.

They come in to force in May next year – the clock is ticking!

It appears that firms in Britain may reportedly have a culture of keeping data breaches a secret and not reporting them; perhaps for fear of repercussions or simply because they don’t know what to do. But such behaviour simply will not do…
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66% of small-to-medium businesses could “shut down” in the event of a data breach

Computer Antivirus provider Vipre recently conducted a study to see how small-to-medium businesses (SMB) would be impacted by a data breach.

The findings were startling – they indicated that, in the event of a data breach, up to two-thirds of these companies could either go out of business completely or have to shut down for at least one day.

Practically, this is very concerning.
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Yet another NHS worker fined for accessing sensitive medical records without authorisation

It seems the NHS can’t keep its staff under control as yet another worker has been found guilty of accessing sensitive medical records without authorisation.

Linda Reeves reportedly abused her position as a former data coordinator with access to the Trust’s patient database by rifling through medical records belonging to colleagues, friends and neighbours. She did not have any consent or authorisation from patients or her employer as the data controller.

Reeves has since resigned from her job at The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.
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