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TalkTalk fined £100,000 for putting 21,000 customers at risk of scams and fraud

As if the £400,000 fine last year was not enough, TalkTalk has been slapped with a £100,000 fine for reportedly breaching data protection laws over customer information.

Unlike the last fine which came off the back of countless customers’ information being exposed after a malicious hacking, TalkTalk is being fined for an alleged lack of information security, leaving customer data “open to exploitation by rogue employees.”

TalkTalk employees reportedly have access to a great deal of information, heightening the need for internal security measures.
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ICO cautions NHS staff against illegally accessing patient medical records

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has specifically reminded NHS staff not to access patient medical records without proper reason and / or proper authority. Illegally accessing, obtaining and/or disclosing patient medical records without permission is not only a violation of patient data protection rights, but also exposes the wrongdoer and the NHS to legal action and costly fines.

This latest ICO warning was prompted by a recent case where a former health care assistant accessed medical records belonging to several patients without a valid reason. Over a period of a year and a half, Brioney Woolfe reportedly accessed patient files belonging to 29 individuals, including her family members, colleagues and other patients.
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Provident Personal Credit Limited fined £80,000 for sending a million nuisance texts over six month period

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has concluded investigations into a Bradford-based credit loan company after 285 complaints were made over unwarranted ‘nuisance’ text messages.

Provident Personal Credit Ltd reportedly employed third party vendors to send 999,057 text messages to promote their services. The text messages were unwarranted as the recipients had not agreed to receive such correspondence for marketing purposes.
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J.P. Morgan Chase Bank face class action for recording calls without consumer consent

Reuters report that the J.P. Morgan (one of the largest financial corporations in the world) are facing a class action (otherwise known as a group action here) in the U.S. which is being brought by multiple aggrieved consumers and to be heard in the Californian federal court.

The case is in relation to J.P. Morgan allegedly recording calls without consent, which is reportedly a violation of state laws. The lawsuit, which reportedly only covers outbound calls, was filed on the 3^rd of July in the ‘golden state’ with allegations that J.P. Morgan’s practice of recording calls without permission has been a problem for a long time.
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A-list celebrities dining preferences leaked

A mystery restaurant in the U.S. has recently leaked some of their guests’ notes and dining preferences.

Many restaurants use a digital POS system to make efficient table reservations and importantly to make notes about their guests. The restaurant in question is one where many A-list celebrities reportedly dine at, and you’d have thought that information about them would be kept secure given the nature of their clientele.

Apparently, this was not the case. Hannah Goldfield, an author for The New Yorker, was reportedly sent a spreadsheet from the restaurant in error containing around 30,000 entries about guests.
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Is “military-grade” cyber-security required to combat data breaches?

Data breaches are at an ‘all-time high’. In this modern world where most things are done electronically and are connected to the internet, without sufficient cyber-security, our data is exposed to cybercriminals who can steal our money, spread our personal information around, and wreak havoc with our identities.

Whilst many encourage development of new applications and innovative software to help us share information at a click of a button, and pay our bills with a swipe of a finger, cyber-security is falling behind.

With the growing trend of breaches, what can we do to fully protect ourselves? Do we all need “military-grade” protection like our armed forced and government intelligence agencies do?
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WWE’s unprotected database – affecting over three million fans

Anger amongst WWE wrestling fans is thought to be rife after revelations that up to three million fans’ account information has been left unprotected and accessible on the Amazon cloud.

It’s thought that WWE is watched by 15 million fans each week in the U.S. alone. In 2016, they announced plans to expand to China, opening a potential fan base of 1.4 billion. It’s scary to think that an organisation as big as this and with so many fans could leave data belonging to three million people totally unsecured.

It’s one heck of a monumental data breach…
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Google employees fall victim to data breach

A number of employees at Google have been warned that some of their personal information may have been compromised because of a third party data breach.

Sabre Hospitality Solutions is a platform allowing users to plan trips and book hotels through their site. Sabre developed the SynXis Central Reservation System to allow guests, hotels and travel agencies from all over the world to book travel and accommodation through the unified service.

Google uses Calson Wagonlit Travel as the middle-man to arrange work-related trips for its employees. Unfortunately, Sabre’s database was hacked, meaning personal information belonging to Google’s recently travelled employees may have been compromised.
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Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust who shared 1.6million patient information in a clinical tech trial escapes fine from the ICO

Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust who shared the data of 1.6 million patients has escaped a fine from the UK’s information watchdog… The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The Trust has instead signed an undertaking with the ICO to take certain action in order to ensure data protection rules are complied with in future. The Trust were reportedly using Google DeepMind on a clinical trial when the personal information of 1.6 million patients was shared as part of the clinical trials projects.
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FTC prove that cyber-hackers can access and use breached data within 9 minutes of it being posted

I’m sure many are curious to find out where and how their data is used after hackers gain access to their information. According to a recent study, hackers are reportedly able to use leaked data within 9 minutes of it being posted.

Mr Salsburg, chief counsel and acting chief of research and investigation project at the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), reiterated the mysteriousness of what happens to data when it’s publicised:

“…there’s a real mystery of what happens to consumer data when it becomes public.”

But the dangers of how quickly it can be used are evident.
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