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2017 saw 2.7 BILLIION data records compromised

The year of 2017 saw a monumental 2.7 BILLIION data records compromised around the world as a result of data breaches and data hacks, estimates say.

This overall estimated figure of data records compromised is terrifying, with the UK reportedly in second place (behind the US) when it comes to the league table of breaches around the world.

They really are happening all the time and all over the place, and figures suggest that numbers have almost doubled in the UK from 2016 to 2017.

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Research shows cybersecurity is not a priority for most businesses

Cybersecurity is not a priority for most businesses in the UK, results from recent research has indicated.

Despite us being in a time where the importance of cybersecurity has never been more prevalent, businesses are still not showing the respect to cybersecurity that it deserves. In fact, recent research suggested that just 10pc of UK businesses see cybersecurity as their biggest challenge to economic success, despite 2018 being the big year of the GDPR changes.

With the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) now having the power to fine data breach offenders up to £17m, how cybersecurity is not a priority is incredibly baffling.

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MyFitnessPal data breach triggers Under Armour lawsuit

The MyFitnessPal data breach has triggered a lawsuit against parent company Under Armour, filed on behalf of users of the mobile health app.

The legal case is being described as a putative class action against Under Armour for the liability over the theft of millions of users’ personal information. The allegations are that the MyFitnessPal data breach was caused by Under Armour’s failure to safeguard the data they held for users.

150 million users were reportedly affected by the MyFitnessPal data breach, which includes countless victims in the UK as well. read more

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MyHeritage data breach a wake-up call

The MyHeritage data breach was a massive wake-up call about the dangers of providing personal and sensitive data to companies, with some 92m users affected by the breach.

When we have the ability to provide companies like MyHeritage with DNA information, which is used together with personal and sensitive information and a wealth of data about family histories, the massive MyHeritage data breach is a monumental wake-up call.

The family networking and genealogy site discovered the data breach last month, which reportedly took place in October last year.

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Are charity data breach incidents on the rise?

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.

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South African data breach compromises 30 million personal records

Creator and founder of HaveIBeenPwned.com, Troy Hunt, discovered yet another data dump last year. This one reportedly contained personal data belonging to millions in this staggering South African data breach.

At the time of discovery, the information was available from an online public database back-up file and even came with a smaller compressed version. Anyone on the site could download the information.
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Malaysia sees colossal data breach that may have affected entire population

Technology website Lowyat.net reportedly discovered a huge Malaysian data breach that saw millions of people have their personal data stolen and leaked on the dark web.

The information was apparently taken from multiple Malaysian mobile phone operators, as well as the Malaysian public sector and commercial company websites.

With over 46 million confirmed records breached, this is one monumental data incident.
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There’s a reported shortage of cybersecurity specialists to protect organisations from breaches

The number of breaches are on the rise and they’re set to continue to rise due to an apparent shortage of experts trained in cybersecurity.

The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) teamed-up with IT firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) to produce a report on cybersecurity. Released one year after their first one, the report depicts a problem that is getting worse.

And we should all be very, very concerned about it…
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More firms fear data breaches but don’t know how to deal with them…

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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Is it more cost effective to pay for cybersecurity or the aftermath of a data breach?

It should always be the case that cybersecurity is more important; hands down.

After suffering a data breach, organisations face all sorts of financial losses, including penalty fines for not complying with data protection obligations; or claims brought by data victims for compensation; and loss of profits as shares drop and customers turn away from them. Data breaches can have a huge impact on consumer confidence – a cost that can’t always be calculated so easily.

Prevention should always come ahead of dealing with an aftermath that could have been averted in the first place!
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