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 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.
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.
The (PFEW) Police Federation of England and Wales data breach incidents were announced earlier this month, and they’re potentially huge. The PFEW cyber attacks may have affected 120,000 police employees.
Although PFEW say that they don’t believe any information was exposed, they cannot rule it out. For the potential victims of the breaches, this isn’t helpful. It’s hard enough these days being on the police force with constant cuts and under-staffing.
This kind of added stress in the current environment of policing isn’t helpful at all.
We’re coming up to the two-year anniversary of what was one of the world’s biggest breaches, so we’re making sure to remind you not to miss the boat in the Equifax class action.
We launched legal action in the UK soon after news of the massive Equifax data breach hit the headlines. We’re now acting for a large group of people affected in the UK, as one of the over 20 different data breach group actions / multi party actions our lawyers are working on.
Unlike what some firms may do when they’re not experienced in the kinds of areas like we are, we’re activity taking cases forward on a No Win, No Fee basis. We’re not just registering information with a view to trying to taking further action later.
We may see a Marriott GDPR fine applied after the monumental breach that was discovered last year, given the volume of people affected and the nature of the breach.
As many as 500 million people were affected, with data said to have been compromised between 2014 and 2018. An unauthorised third-party is said to have accessed the guest reservation table fore the Startword division of the company. Data exposed in the breach included a lot of personal and account data.
The breach lapses over GDPR coming into force in May 2018. That means that the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) could issue a fine that equates to 4% of the Marriott’s global annual turnover.
The dangers of the Quora data breach cannot be understated, especially when the incident reportedly affected up to 100m users!
Just yesterday we wrote about the issue of reusing passwords and user credentials across multiple sites. Doing so can put you at far greater risks than you may even realise. One of the key things it means is that your credentials breached in an attack could be used to break into other platforms you use. Facebook is a prime example with billions of users and a feature that lets you log into other platforms using your Facebook credentials.
On that basis, the dangers of an incident like this Quora one simply cannot be understated.
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Are you owed £5,000 for the Virgin Media data breach?
Virgin Media faces £4.5 BILLION in compensation payouts
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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
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