Cybercrime compensation – your rights

It’s important that people know that they can make a claim for cybercrime compensation as a victim of a hack or cybersecurity event.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen significant increases in the number of cyberattacks taking place. As a pioneering law firm in the complex and niche area of data breach compensation law who have been at the forefront of fighting for victims’ rights for a long time, the number of cases we take forward has rapidly grown. A number of the dozens of group and multi-party actions that we’re involved with also stem from cyberattacks given how often they’re occurring.

It’s important that victims know that they can be entitled to compensation and that no one should suffer in silence. As a leading, expert data breach compensation law firm, here’s what you need to know.

Claiming cybercrime compensation

You can be entitled to make a claim for cybercrime compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis with our expert team of lawyers.

The financial punishments issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are not designed to be used for compensating victims. For those whose information has been exposed, their justice comes from a legal case that we can pursue for them.

When you make a claim with us, we can look at several things in terms of how you have been affected by a cybersecurity breach. You can claim compensation for any distress caused by the loss of control of your personal information, as well as for any distress caused by being the victim of fraud if that takes place. Any financial losses and expenses can be added on top of the amount for the distress claim as well.

Generally speaking, data breach compensation pay-outs are based on the principle of ‘the more you suffer, the more a case can be worth’.

A growing problem

The increasing numbers of people claiming with us for cybercrime compensation reflects the growing numbers of incidents taking place.

Over the last few years, billions of records have been exposed in attacks across the globe. The methods that cybercriminals are using are getting more and more sophisticated, but big companies are also failing in their duties to protect the valuable data that they hold.

When you look at how some of these huge multinational companies were unable to defend against attacks, you can see how slow organisations are to adapt. Based on just a few examples of the group and multi-party actions we’re involved with:

• BA Group Action we’re on the Steering Committee for: the ICO criticised the airline for their poor security arrangements;
• Equifax: failed to patch a known security vulnerability and failed to identify the ongoing vulnerability for several months;
• TalkTalk: the ICO was also critical and stated that there was a “failure to implement the most basic cybersecurity measures”.

Since GDPR, the ICO has issued intentions to fine British Airways £183m and Marriott £99m. The amounts of those kinds of fines are calculated based on things like whether the hack was preventable or not, which tells you all you need to know about what has happened.

How we can help you

As hackers continue to be increasingly more sophisticated, and as people continue to hand over droves of data to big tech companies like Facebook who themselves have been hit by several attacks, we’ll likely see cybersecurity incidents continue to grow.

Victims do not have to suffer in silence. You can make a claim for cybercrime compensation with us on a No Win, No Fee basis. We can fight for your rights to justice, as we have done for thousands of others who have come to us for our expert representation.

We’re here to help you.

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