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.
School cyberattacks represent some of the most significant threats to data privacy in the UK, primarily because of the sensitivity of the information that school systems hold.
While cybersecurity procedures will hopefully be followed well by most staff, the effects can be dangerous when a cyberattack exposes children, parent, or staff information.
Teachers and schools have an important duty of care for their pupils and are often privy to confidential information to allow them to protect children and provide tailored educational plans. This means that a lot of private information falls under their protection, whether this is provided by children and families, or shared with them by social services.
In September, a study by Finder reportedly found that online shopping scams had increased by over a third in the first half of 2020.
The national lockdowns resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic have frequently been singled out as the reason for this notable rise in cases, which comes as no surprise. As such, it is also unsurprising that further waves of online shopping scams may continue as we enter the second month of the latest national lockdown in England.
Indeed, the figures in the Finder report suggested that online shopping and auction scams accounted for around two-thirds of fraud reported by consumers in 2020. Clearly, the threat of online shopping scams cannot be underestimated.
Although the industry has, unfortunately, had quiet year in 2020, it seems this fact has not lessened their risk of travel and leisure data breaches.
Travel and leisure breaches have been prominent in the news with the revelation that companies including Expedia and Booking.com have been affected by a large-scale breach, after their partner Prestige Software failed to password-protect a database containing millions of customers’ booking details. Among the exposed details were guests’ names, phone numbers, email addresses and payment details, inducing risks of both blackmail and fraud.
As the travel and leisure industries continue to be a prime target of hackers, it is important to evaluate the scale of the impact, and to consider why these companies succumb to breaches again and again.
In the UK last year, the coronavirus pandemic caused us to lead more and more of both our personal and professional lives online. As such, the risk of fraud from data breaches has heightened.
In 2020, The Daily Express reported that one in five people (equating to around 11 million) had their data hacked, and one in three reported that they are unequipped to protect their online data. This is a shocking number of victims which, in our view, is indicative of a national crisis in cybercrime. It undoubtedly reveals that large-scale action needs to be taken.
Indeed, the shocking nature of such statistics is part of the problem, as experts (ourselves included) cite low awareness as a key reason why the number of victims has been allowed to reach this horrifying height. The vice-president of Clario, the body which compiled the research in association with thinktank Demos, highlighted that victims seem to “think they should suffer in silence”.
In the case of the recent Transform Hospital Group data breach, the large cosmetic surgery chain has been targeted by hackers who seem to be aiming to extort money from the company.
The group has not yet given a number for how many customers have been affected, but the data exposed is reported to be extensive. The inclusion of ‘before and after’ surgery photos has been a cause of particular concern among the victims, who fear they may be published on the internet.
For anyone involved in a data leak, the impact of having your information exposed can be devastating. In some of the worst of cases, the privacy of the information exposed can make the aftermath a deeply upsetting time. We have already taken on clients who have been affected by the Transform Hospital Group data breach, so do not hesitate to contact us if you would like advice regarding your potential compensation claim.
As pressure mounts on the airline, a British Airways data breach settlement is on the cards as the legal representatives of BA alert the court of their intentions to engage in negotiations.
The breaking news of this development comes from leading consumer action and data breach firm Your Lawyers, with wide coverage so far with major media outlets including The Sun and The Mirror. Your Lawyers, who sit on the Steering Committee responsible for the overall conduct of the litigation, declare that this is a massive step forward. This could signal the start of the end of the action that is now entering its third year, and it could represent an incredibly significant compensation pay-out bill that could reach up to £2.4 billion to be shared between over 400,000 victims if all initiate a claim.
The announcement signifies what we always believed should have been on the horizon. A settlement could effectively draw a line under the serious 2018 data breach that shocked the world. We urge victims who have yet to claim to come forward to start their case before the deadline to claim expires soon.
The HaveIBeenPwned platform watches for breaches and can be used to check email addresses to see if an account linked to that email has been compromised in a data breach.
Over the last few months, HaveIBeenPwned has reported huge numbers of data breaches involving millions of records. This can highlight just how frequently these serious breaches are taking place, which is bad for us all.
Data breaches are becoming an increasing threat in society, particularly with the way 2020 evolved with a huge increase in people working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Your Lawyers (T/a The Data Leak Lawyers) are experts in the field of data breach law as a leading firm of compensation experts, and we are always keen to help victims of data breaches and fight for the justice that they deserve. We have helped thousands of victims claim millions in damages, and we may be able to help you too.
2020 has been yet another year of data breaches, resulting in our leading team of lawyers here taking on many new cases and launching several new actions.
We had hoped that the introduction of the GDPR in 2018 would lead to serious improvements and that we would see far fewer breaches, leaks and hacks. Sadly, this has not been the case and, if anything, the volume of breaches continues to grow.
What has not helped us in 2020 is, of course, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The increased reliance on the use of technology to be able to work and live has resulted in an increase in cyberattacks, and hackers have done their best to exploit the situation. When it comes to 2021, we expect the current trends to continue.
Suffering the impact of a data breach at Christmas is something we are used to helping people with on a No Win, No Fee basis.
This is the time of year when data breach numbers can increase as more people go online to spend in time for the big day. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, more of our shopping is now online anyway, and the dangers of breaches, leaks and hacks are evident.
If you suffer from a data breach, you should never suffer in silence. Here is how we can help you.
We have been approached for advice and have agreed to take forward No Win, No Fee compensation claims for those affected by the People’s Energy data breach.
News of the People’s Energy data breach has just broken in the media following the discovery of the cyberattack yesterday. We have already been approached for help and have agreed to take legal action now – if you have received confirmation that you are affected, please do not hesitate to contact our team for free, no-obligation advice now.
As a leading firm of data breach compensation lawyers, we are often approached immediately by victims when a new cyberattack or data leak emerges. Representing thousands of clients, having launched over 45 data breach group actions, we are ready to take claims for this new breach forward now for anyone based in England and Wales.
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
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