Welcome To The Data Leak Lawyers Blog
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
We focus on the latest news surrounding data breaches, leaks and hacks plus daily internet security articles.
A horrendous Bracknell Forest Council data breach incident has been reported in the media this month, and the circumstances are strikingly familiar.
Unfortunately, the incident doesn’t come as a surprise to us. Over the years we’ve been fighting for the rights of data breach victims, thousands of people have come to us for help. A huge volume of the cases we represent people for are for council data breach compensation claims. They really do happen a lot, and with the wealth of personal and sensitive data that councils hold, the impact on the victims can be serious.
In this case, it’s another incident where information – private and sensitive data – has somehow been sent to the wrong person.
The Hollybrook Medical Centre data breach is another example of an employee (or former employee in this case) who has abused their rights of access to data.
In this case, former GP Practice Manager, Shamim Sadiq, was suspended and dismissed on unrelated matters from the Hollybrook Medical Centre in November 2017. The day after the suspension came into force, Sadiq reportedly accessed her work email account and committed a data breach by sending information to her personal email address.
The reason she was able to still access the account was because she was also employed as an advisor for the Care Quality Commission. She therefore still had access to her NHS email account.
As investigations into the Police Federation of England and Wales cyber attack continue, we’ve taken cases forward on a No Win, No Fee basis.
The investigations into the two malware attacks that hit the PFEW on 9th March and 21st March 2019 are underway, and we’ve agreed to take claims forward. Our legal team who are fighting for justice in dozens of data breach group actions have been contacted for help. As with the other group and multi-party actions we’re running, we have offered No Win, No Fee compensation representation.
It’s understood that the data for some 120,000 police employees may have been exposed in the incident. At this stage, information exposure or theft cannot be ruled out.
A lack of data training is an easy open goal for data breaches and cybersecurity incidents. It’s not a viable defence to a claim for compensation.
Over the years we’ve been helping people, thousands of victims have asked for our help for data breaches, leaks and hacks. We can tell you from years of experience that a common cause of incidents can sometimes be a simple issue of a lack of training. Even though data breaches are always in the news, and the risk of a cybersecurity incident has probably never been higher, data protection training is still not a priority for some.
I’ve spoken to friends and family for some insight as well, and there are still way too many organisations not treating it seriously; despite GDPR. For a victim who must make a claim for data breach compensation, a lack of training is no excuse to deflect a claim.
Facebook user records exposed again! In yet another data breach that’s hit the social media giants, data for millions of users has been found on a publicly-accessible Amazon server.
This is one in a growing line of recent Facebook data breach incidents that has plagued the tech giants in recent years. This appears to be another case of third-party developers being responsible for the incident as well. It’s understood that the leaks involve Cultura Colectiva, a media firm, and an app named At The Pool.
Some of the data that has been exposed in this leak is worrying. It’s yet another warning about the dangers of sharing Facebook account information via apps and plugins. Facebook themselves cannot avoid responsibility for these incidents either.
We’ve started taking cases forward on a No Win, No Fee basis for victims of the PFEW cyber attacks that were announced recently.
Some 120,000 police employees may have been affected by this data breach, spanning 40 different forces. The PFEW (Police Federation of England and Wales) cannot determine whether any information was exposed, so on the basis that it cannot be ruled out, we’ve agreed to take cases on.
Another key factor is that there were two separate incidents that spanned over a number of weeks. The first incident took place on 9th March 2019, and the second took place on 21st March 2019. It’s believed that the attacks were a part of a wider operation as opposed to specifically targeting PFEW.
You may be eligible to claim Equifax data breach compensation in the UK if you were affected by the massive 2017 cyber incident.
We’re acting for a large group of victims who have joined the Equifax compensation action we launched shortly after news of the incident hit the media. We’re fast approaching the two-year anniversary of the incident, so our legal cases are well underway. There’s still time to join the action if you’ve yet to do so already, but we recommend that you contact us as soon as you can. You don’t want to miss out on any deadlines that may occur in the case.
You also don’t want to miss out when we hit the negotiations stage either.
Last month, apologies and testimonies took place in relation to the massive Marriott cyber attack that saw some 500 million people’s records exposed.
Marriott International Inc.’s Chief executive, Arne Sorenson, reportedly appeared before a U.S. Senate committee to testify. As part of a written testimony, an apology was issued, although the company is said to have declined to comment on the developments.
There are stark differences between how the U.S. deal with companies in the wake of huge data breaches and how the U.K. deals with them. Although we have the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who can issue fines in the millions under GDPR, the government rarely gets involved in the same way the U.S. does. However, victims in the U.K. can still be eligible to claim data breach compensation. This is important to remember.
The social media giant hasn’t had it easy lately, with a number of data breach incidents plaguing their public image. The recent revelations about the Facebook password data protection flaws is another headache to add to the pile.
It’s understood that some Facebook passwords have not been securely stored and have been accessible to thousands of Facebook employees. You would expect that one of the biggest social media platforms in the world would have the best protection for passwords, but this story suggests otherwise.
Users affected by the issue are set to be contacted by Facebook. This incident is one in a long line of recent data scandals Facebook has been embroiled in.
Given the scale of this growing market, which is becoming increasingly monetised with in-game purchases often the norm now, we may see increases in online gaming data breach incidents.
When you look under the surface of the gaming industry, there are a number of reasons to feel concerned. The revelations about Fortnite hacking (or Fortnite cracking as it’s often referred to) is worrying. Some youngsters are making a mint by hacking into accounts and then making use of the often-hard-earned digital property the original account user had amassed as they sell accounts on.
Online gaming is on the rise. This could put a bigger target on their back for the cybercriminals and fraudsters who can exploit gamers with ransom demands and account takeovers.
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