Category: Technology

Closure of York Council app after hack

The York Council app that was hacked late last year has reportedly been shut down as a result of the data breach incident.

It’s understood that the public-facing aspect of the app is no longer available. Residents had been able to access it and use it as part of waste-reduction plans and for the improvement of their environmental performance.

After it was discovered that the app lacked the proper security to keep users’ data safe, the app has now been reportedly shut down and is no longer publicly-available.

Chelmsford City Council data breach

Posted by Matthew on January 10, 2019 in the following categories: Claims Council Cybersecurity Security Technology and tagged with council | council data breaches | data controllers | data leak

The Chelmsford City Council data breach was another preventable incident of information exposure by a local authority that has affected thousands of people.

Personal information that was submitted using online forms was accidentally left visible on the website. There’s no way of knowing for sure if the information exposed was used or copied, leaving victims with a lack of closure over the incident.

More than 6,500 people that were affected by the breach have been informed by email that their data has been exposed.

Have you suffered an Amazon data leak?

If you’ve been the victim of an Amazon data leak, we may be able to help you claim data leak compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis.

The most recent Amazon data leak took place last month, and there wasn’t a great deal of detail released about it. All that was said to victims was that some data had been exposed, and that victims don’t need to take any action. Although this may suggest that the leak was contained, people should always be vigilant. Companies should always ensure to warn people that they may need to take action.

One key element we do understand is that the most recent Amazon data leak reportedly stemmed from an API issue. This is important to know.

Bethesda data leak

Posted by Matthew on January 04, 2019 in the following categories: Cybersecurity Latest Security Technology and tagged with data leak | database security | online security | personal data

The computer gaming giants apologised last month after the Bethesda data leak led to customers being able to access data they shouldn’t have.

According to reports from angry customers, the data leak reportedly involved personal information and some payment data. The leak came off the back of a number of complaints involving the Fallout 76 game, and the leak itself involved the company’s complaints systems.

As the world of online gaming continues to grow, we expect incidents like the Bethesda data leak to become more common. Read More

Have you been the victim of a Gmail data breach?

Posted by Matthew on December 27, 2018 in the following categories: Cybersecurity Latest Mobile Data Smartphones Technology and tagged with email leaks | online security | personal data | phishing scams

Without even knowing it, your emails may be being read by companies, and you may feel that this is a Gmail data breach.

The recent admission by Google that they’ve been allowing companies to scan emails is a worrying one. App developers are reportedly able to access data in Gmail mailboxes to use it for marketing purposes. Even employees were manually reading mailboxes in order to train AI software to then do it for them.

If this applies to you, whether this can be classed as a Gmail data breach or not is apparently open for debate.

We need to talk about drone hacking

Posted by Matthew on December 21, 2018 in the following categories: Cybersecurity Hacking News Latest Scammers Security Technology and tagged with cyber attack | cyber crime | cybersecurity | smart technology

As Gatwick Airport has been brought to a standstill over drones accessing the airfield, now is the time we need to talk about drone hacking.

We’ve highlighted this before, but given the news this week, it’s time to bring it up again. If cars can be hacked, so can drones. If smart tech in the home can be hacked, so can drones. If these things can be used to harm people – physically or financially – so can drones. They’re remote-controlled which means a huge door is there to be opened. There also incredibly easy to buy, and hackers have already demonstrated how easy it is to take control of another drone by hacking.

If there’s technology good enough to bring one of the UK’s biggest airports to a standstill, drone hacking is a serious concern.

Victims of Amazon data breach should take precautions

An Amazon data breach incident took place in the lead up to the big Black Friday sales a few weeks ago.

The incident reportedly stemmed from a technical problem.

In the data protection breach, customer names and email addresses were inadvertently posted on the company’s website. They were removed upon discovery of the error, and customers affected by the data breach have been informed.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is said to be looking into the situation.

Worrying Birmingham Hospital data breach figures

Posted by Matthew on December 05, 2018 in the following categories: Healthcare Technology and tagged with healthcare sector | medical data breach | medical records

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?

East Lindsey Council data breach

The recent East Lindsey Council data breach was another example of a totally avoidable incident that resulted in sensitive information being exposed.

Our lawyers are often representing victims for council data breach cases. This includes for claims against local authority agencies and outsourced third-parties as well.

Public sector breaches can be common, and council data breaches are amongst the most frequent we see. As is the case with the East Lindsey Council data breach, many of the incidents are totally avoidable. Many stem from simple errors that can have costly consequences.

Another LinkedIn data breach?

The most famous LinkedIn data breach stems from the 2012 hack that took years to come to light. But since then, there has reportedly been others.

There has reportedly been several other data breaches with connections to the Microsoft-owned networking site for professionals. But this latest LinkedIn data breach arises from the way some 18 million people’s email addresses have reportedly been used for targeted Facebook ads.

According to recent investigations, this is yet another data breach involving LinkedIn.