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“BBC reports 169 data breaches” – 10,000 customers’ data lost over a decade

Recent reports show that BBC has allegedly breached 10,000 of their customers’ personal data over the period of almost a decade.

Over the 10 year period it was reported that there were 169 data breaches, according to a Freedom of Information Act request. The personal information that seems to have been lost includes partial bank details, mobile numbers, addresses, and signatures through TV licensing fee accounts.

All very worrying…
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“Data breach fines that could dismantle a company” – The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council imposes a new EU regulation that could impose £122 billion worth of data breach fines on U.K. companies, taking effect in 2018

As cyber-attacks are on a continual upward trend, so is the need for real and robust data protection.

This is shown in the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s (PCI SSC) statement where new penalties are to be enforced under EU data protection regulations for data breaches. Any financial penalty should scare any organisation from potential data breaches until the end of times!

The figures are staggering!

It’s reported that UK companies could face up to £122 billion in fines if they violate data protection principles, which is a lot of money.
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“Did Weebly do enough to fend off the hackers?” – Weebly and Foursquare in a potential breach of their customers’ personal information

In the string of data breaches this decade has given rise to, website builder Weebly are next in line.

It’s thought that 43 million users’ personal details were leaked as part of a massive breach. I can say with certainty that this will not be the end of data breaches, as many companies and organisations lack the security and protection needed to fend off the cyber-criminals of today. However, it is not enough for companies to be reactive; they need to be proactive to ensure the safety of our personal data.

Especially a company like Weebly who are handling websites for people and businesses around the world!
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Wrongful access to medical records

Our medical records are private and often very sensitive. Only those who we allow should access our medical records, and there should always be a good and justifiable reason to do so.

Despite this rather obvious sentiment, wrongful or needless access, or use of, medical records remains a problem that we have had to help people claim for. It can sometimes be people we know who have access to our records and access them for wrongful means, or it could be someone accessing records to change them, or to use information from them for financial gain.

It happens, and we have helped people who have had to claim when their records have been unduly accessed.
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Sage Software firm suffers data breach

UK software company Sage has suffered a data breach which could have affected the personal information of employees at 280 businesses.

The breach is being investigated by the police, and Sage is looking into the unauthorised access of data where someone used an “internal” company computer login for access. It is unclear whether the information was stolen or simply looked at, but the incident allegedly took place nevertheless.
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Healthcare industry at the heart of most data breaches

Healthcare data breaches are the most common – which is unfortunate because of the sensitivity of the information that can often be leaked or hacked.

The NHS has a wealth of information about us. Due to how much information they have on us, data breaches by the NHS can be a major concern. One of the most frustrating things about NHS data leaks is that we are required to share so much of our personal information with them.

Unlike businesses, we arguably have more of an option to how much information we choose to share with them, when it comes to sharing information with the NHS, it’s more out of necessity – we share some of our most personal information with the healthcare industry.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) did a report on data security, and their findings highlighted just how frequent healthcare industry data breaches takes place.
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South Central Ambulance Service staff data breach in 2013

If you have yet to claim as a victim of this breach, time is running out – contact us now!

The personal data of thousands of ambulance service staff was accidentally published online back in 2013, which was one of the worst breaches of its time.

South Central Ambulance Service published the age, sexuality, and religion of almost 30,000 ambulance staff members – a serious breach of data protection regulations.

The Information Commissioner’s Office investigated the claim once it was revealed by a BBC Radio Berkshire Freedom of Information request to the service.

2,826 staff members who were employed by the organisation that covers Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Berkshire in October 2013.
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Looking Back: Islington Council resident data breach October 2015

Last year, Islington Council accidentally published residents personal details on their public website.

This lead to Town hall bosses having to apologise yet again over another data breach on the back of three previous ones in recent years that cost the taxpayer £100,000.

The council received a phone call from a resident who had discovered the data breach after going online to pay a penalty charge only to notice copies of the residents information had been uploaded onto the council website.
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Employees of Google, Samsung and Apple suffer data breach

Employee accounts of Google, Samsung, and Apple along with other tech firms have apparently had their accounts hacked.

This information comes from the Khronos website. Supposedly the hackers hacked into a forum that was often used by the developers for things such as game development. Others that are allegedly victims of the hack include Toshiba, Sony Ericsson, IBM, EA, Intel, Panasonic and VMWare.

More companies may have had employee accounts stolen as well.
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NHS data breaches are often the biggest

Most people believe their personal information is safe in the hands of medical processionals – but data breaches by the NHS are at the top of the list in terms of how often they happen.

Due to the sensitivity of the information that we hand over to the NHS, it is very private and personal information that could be leaked. It is not the same with handing information over to businesses or companies in which we can choose what information we wish to share with them. We have no option but to share lots of personal information with the NHS which can make it even more of a problem when a data breach occurs.

So it’s concerning to hear that one of the biggest offenders of leaks and breaches within the UK is the NHS!
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