We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
If your medical data is hacked, we’re (unfortunately) not too surprised. A large volume of the cases we deal with are for healthcare sector breaches, and hackers do target the sector.
The reason hackers target the sector is often due to a lack of resources in cybersecurity. We saw in the 2017 WannaCry attack just how much damage a targeted attack can do. The hackers in this incident targeted outdated systems because they can be more vulnerable to being broken into. With the healthcare sector often using outdated systems, they were an easy target.
If your medical data is hacked, what can you do about it?
If you need help to make a compensation claim for a Bolton Hospital data breach, we could help you on a No Win, No Fee basis.
It was reported that, in 2017, Bolton NHS Trust was the second worst Trust when it came to lost or stolen data. In 2017 alone, some 2,163 documents reportedly went missing or were stolen. The news came as part of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request that revealed some 10,000 documents had been lost or stolen within the NHS in one year.
If you’ve suffered as a result of a Bolton Hospital data breach, we may be able to help you.
We’ve seen some worrying Birmingham Hospital data breach figures off the back of recent data released about NHS data incidents.
Birmingham Hospital sits at the top of the pile for 2017 data losses and thefts. According to a Freedom of Information request, some 10,000 documents went missing or were stolen in 2017 within the NHS. Over 3,000 of those were from Birmingham Hospital alone.
The figure of 10,000 missing or stolen documents is a horrendous amount. How can so many documents go missing when they’re likely to contain very sensitive and private information?
Are private health sector data breaches on the rise? With more and more people opting for private healthcare, this may be the case.
Although the overall healthcare sector has long led the way in terms of volumes of breaches, the private health sector has its problems as well. Cyber criminals have been known to specifically target the private health sector. These companies hold a wealth of financial and medical data about us, and these companies are often very wealthy themselves.
They can make for huge targets for ransomware attacks.
The issue of the NHS sending wrong patient records simply must stop. It’s a common form of breach that often leaves victims with no choice but to start legal action.
As a victim of the NHS sending the wrong patient records, which includes your records, you can be eligible to claim for data breach compensation. It typically happens where information is legitimately requested, but they either send out the wrong patient records or accidentally include the wrong patient records with the request.
There have been plenty of news stories and ICO interventions where the NHS has not handled patient records correctly, and we feel more should be done to prevent such issues.
We are representing people claiming in an NHS Digital compensation action we have initiated for victims of the recent NHS data breach.
Some 150,000 patients who had registered for the “type 2 opt-out” of their data being shared from their GP using the SystemOne application were subject to a coding error that resulted in their opt-out not being honoured. As such, their private and sensitive medical data that they had specifically opted out for being shared with NHS Digital was in fact shared because the coding error resulted in the opt-out notification not being referred to NHS Digital.
This was an entirely avoidable incident which is why we have launched NHS Digital compensation cases for those who have been affected and have contacted us asking for our help and representation.
The Poole Hospital data breach stemmed from the simple act of patient data being exposed from a stolen bag.
It’s understood that the stolen bag had been discarded and hidden in the hospital and contained patient data; the likes of which is always private and very sensitive. This is yet another simple data breach stemming from an entirely avoidable incident, and it doesn’t help the already problematic situation of healthcare sector data breaches.
Patients affected by the Poole Hospital data breach have been informed of the incident.
Our NHS Digital data breach compensation action is well under way with a number of victims affected by the huge data breach already signed up to our service.
News of the massive breach affecting some 150,000 patients came just weeks after the new GDPR legislation came into force at the end of May 2018. A simple case of a software error is the underlying cause of the NHS Digital data breach, and with the healthcare sector already leading the way in terms of data breach incidents, this situation is unwelcome news.
Many people have approached us for help, and our Data Leak Lawyers have listened to their concerns and agreed to take cases forward.
Recent study findings suggest that healthcare cybersecurity is still a cause for concern, with the healthcare industry itself a prime target for cybercriminals.
Underfunding and a lack of understanding by bosses means there are still huge gaps and vulnerabilities when it comes to healthcare cybersecurity, putting countless people’s private and sensitive medical data at risk of leaks and hacks.
It’s a simple case of pace: the healthcare industry doesn’t appear to be able to keep up to speed with the pace of the cybercriminals who are targeting them.
The healthcare sector is at risk of ‘grunt bot’ attacks, which are one of many innovations hackers have come up with to save themselves time and give themselves the ability to hack their targets more easily and more efficiently.
Grunt bots – literally automated bots that can seek out weak and vulnerable systems and break into them for the hacker in seconds – can save a hacker potentially hours of manual work. The healthcare sector is at particular risk because they’re known to sometimes use outdated systems which can be more vulnerable to attack.
It’s another wake-up call that means, unless healthcare sector shapes up its cybersecurity, they are at risk.
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
Fill out our quick call back form below and we'll contact you when you're ready to talk to us.