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“Open data requires the same level of protection as private data” – Sir Tim Berners-Lee warns that not protecting open data could “create chaos”

There are fresh concerns that open data could “create chaos” as the father of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, warns that open data should have a public infrastructure, and requires the same level of protection as private data.

As the world continues to rely more and more on data that can be transferred in the blink of an eye, has he got a point?
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“Phishing messages sent to Red Cross blood donors” – Cyber attackers are trying to extract more sensitive data from the 1.3 million Red Cross data breach

Following ‘Australia’s largest data breach‘ where 550,000 Red Cross blood donors’ information was reportedly hacked, victims have found themselves to be at a potential risk of further hacking as criminals are reportedly attempting to steal patients’ details through a recent phishing scam.

These sorts of follow-up attacks are not uncommon – when people are at their most vulnerable after a cyber attack, it can be common for other hackers or criminals to jump on the situation to try and use the hack for further gains.
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Companies must not drop their security ‘A-Game’ – The rise in data breaches and cybercrime year on year

Businesses and organisations need to keep their ‘A-Game’ as reports show that data breach costs are sharply increasing.

If they do not want to be facing fines and costs for not providing adequate security to their customers, they must step-up.

In the growing digital era, it’s important that companies and organisations are equipped to fend off cyber hackers/attackers, as malicious techniques are used to gain unauthorised access to personal data.
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“Medical records are the new hot commodity” – The scale of healthcare hacks are massive, with some 10 million medical records reportedly for sale on the ‘dark web’

10 million medical records for sale on the so-called ‘dark web’ – that is frightening!!!

The scale of healthcare hacks seems to be on the rise, and it does not show any signs of slowing down at the moment.

This is a massive threat to data protection and privacy. Earlier this year, there was a record of 10 million medical records apparently for sale on the ‘dark web’ that were reportedly stolen from a big U.S. insurance company.
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“Security Breach that Cost TalkTalk £400k” – The major telecom company fined for the lack of security protection of customer accounts

Can you put a figure on stolen data? You can in terms of fines and compensation payouts.

Major U.K. telecom company TalkTalk has been fined £400,000 for the cyber-attack which happened in October last year. Up to 4 million customer details were thought to have been accessed, but it was later confirmed that around 157,000 accounts were directly accessed in the breach.
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“The state who funds hackers” – Rumours of hackers who were sponsored by the state to hack Yahoo accounts

More than half a billion Yahoo user accounts were hacked in 2014. The hack is the latest of the recent big hacking scandals, like Last.fm in March 2012, dating websites Ashley Madison and Beautiful People, and a whole host of others.

However, the popular email server’s hack is thought to be the ‘largest internet theft on record’ (source). The personal data that was hacked included the names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of births, and passwords of affected users. What is more concerning is the suggestion of a “state-sponsored actor” being behind the cyber theft. Intelligent agencies across the globe are investigating the matter.
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Cyber Crime affects 1 in 10 UK Adults, reports say

The annual Crime Survey for England and Wales has been published by the Office of National Statistics. Worryingly, the figures show that 5.8 million incidents that are classed as cyber crime impact 1 in 10 adults.

The internet offers us a lot of convenience and most people fully embrace it. It is the level of trust that we have in the online world that can open us up to cyber crime though. Crime is changing, and as more and more of our personal details end up online, criminals are taking full advantage of any possible vulnerabilities.

This can lead to fraud, hacking, and other cyber crimes – problems which are on the rise.
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New online portal offers help against ransomware attacks

Ransomware is software that blocks users having access to their computer system until a sum of money is paid. Ransomware helps to facilitate the evolution of cybercrime as it often funds more advanced types of cyber-crime software that can also be sold on to other cyber-criminals… Allowing for more cyber-attacks to happen.

The advice has been and still remains “do not pay the ransom”, if you do fall victim to hackers – by people paying the ransom they continue to fuel a vicious cybercrime circle. Even though people do pay, there is also no guarantee that people will regain access to their computer system.
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