We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
Charity data breach incidents appear to be on the rise, and there are a number of reasons as to why they can be an easy target for hackers, and why they may fall foul of data laws more easily than some other organisations.
According to recent figures, there were 59 charity data breach incidents reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) between January and March in 2018. This is a 69pc rise on the previous year’s period.
Although the figures appear to be in-line with rises seen in some other sectors, which may be due to the greater awareness of data breach laws given the new GDPR, the figures cannot be ignored.
There is a very worrying trend of employees stealing data from their workplaces in order to engage personal contact with a customer. More often than not, it is an employee stealing a customer’s mobile phone number and then contacting the customer to “make friends” or try and pursue a romantic interest in the victim.
Clearly, this is wrong.
How will this worrying trend be stopped, and what can victims do if they are contacted by people who have stolen their contact information from a workplace?
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In what Hywel Dda University Health Board admitted to be the second data protection breach they have faced of this nature, yet another NHS worker has been caught accessing confidential medical records without a valid reason.
Instances of NHS workers accessing medical records when they have no reason or right to access them is a common problem at the moment. Most of the time, staff committing the breaches are accessing records for people they know out of nothing more than curiosity.
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The U.S. reported a discovery of 246,000 sensitive personal records belonging to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees on a home computer owned by an employee. The department and its employees have a vital mission to “secure the nation from the many threats” the U.S faces.
One can only wonder if they ever suspect their own colleague to be a major security threat to their personal lives…
This, let’s face it, is the kind of thing we do not want to hear about. Although this story hails from across the pond, we’ve had our own issues of a similar nature of course. The Heathrow USB stick incident springs to mind.
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With the number of high-profile data breaches growing, like the Yahoo and Equifax hacks as two examples, more and more businesses are aware that they’ll probably suffer one sooner or later.
However, even though they’re aware of the risks and the possibility of an imminent attack, a lot of businesses reportedly don’t know where to start in terms of data security and how to react when a breach does happen.
This is worrying…
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Research tells us that the biggest threat to a company or organisation’s cybersecurity is its own employees.
Although cyber-attacks are usually initiated by third party actors with malicious intent, it can be the shortcomings of employees that allow systems to become vulnerable. On top of that, employees who fail to adhere to policies and procedures are normally responsible for data leaks. With many employees working remotely, or with the ability to log in to servers from home, risks are increasing all the time.
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Law changes in the coming months mean that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforcement powers will no longer be subject to a maximum penalty fine of only £500,000. If any person, company or organisation is found to have breached Data Protection laws in the U.K., they may find themselves slapped with a much heftier fine.
The new maximum fine can be 4% of the company’s global turnover or €20million (almost £17million); whichever is the largest.
The government is introducing this as they adopt stricter E.U. laws for data protection into U.K. legislation. Despite Brexit, the government have said that the new regulation will be implemented by May 2018 in any event.
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Being in debt is not usually something people are comfortable with others knowing. It can be a difficult situation that some people are powerless to stop. Sometimes things just don’t go our way and we’re left in a hole with no obvious way out.
When debts aren’t settled, debt collectors are usually never far behind. However, although it’s their job to recover money, the business of debt collection must be conducted in accordance with the law. It must be done in a professional manner which includes respecting someone’s personal information and data privacy rights.
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It’s now 2018. To many of us the internet is so important in our day-to-day lives it’s on the same level as eating and drinking. In just a few decades, we’ve gone from a screeching dial-up connection to super-fast Wi-Fi broadband (though not always quite fast enough) to meet with our ever-increasing online demands.
Technology is still developing at an alarming rate to allow us to do almost anything efficiently, accurately and even remotely. However, that isn’t to say that these technological advancments are perfect. Whilst we encourage new technology to allow us to make video calls with our grandparents half way across the globe and to send money with a swipe of our phones, cybersecurity is still lagging behind.
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With big data comes big risks…
This is even more the case in today’s growing digital era. Any company or organisation can be at risk of data theft if they’re not careful. That’s why cybersecurity is crucial to ensure that any risk of data theft is kept at a minimum. It’s not just about working hard to prevent cyber-theft, but it’s about working smart to stay one step ahead of the game.
The risks are huge.
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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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