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“We Heart It” website suffers data breach reportedly affecting eight million accounts

Popular image-sharing site, We Heart It, disclosed a data breach where eight million accounts have reportedly had their emails and passwords stolen.

Although only recently discovered, the breach is reported to have happened five years ago for accounts created between 2008 and November 2013.

Email addresses, usernames and encrypted passwords are thought to have been compromised. The company also admitted that, although encrypted, the passwords were unfortunately not secured.
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How should an organisation prepare for a data breach?

It’s now 2018. To many of us the internet is so important in our day-to-day lives it’s on the same level as eating and drinking. In just a few decades, we’ve gone from a screeching dial-up connection to super-fast Wi-Fi broadband (though not always quite fast enough) to meet with our ever-increasing online demands.

Technology is still developing at an alarming rate to allow us to do almost anything efficiently, accurately and even remotely. However, that isn’t to say that these technological advancments are perfect. Whilst we encourage new technology to allow us to make video calls with our grandparents half way across the globe and to send money with a swipe of our phones, cybersecurity is still lagging behind.
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2017 has seen over 7 billion records breached!

Yes, that’s billion with a B…

With the eye-watering number of records breached, the amount of breach victims out there is staggering. On top of that, the 7 billion figure is not even for the entire year; just the first three quarters!

Security firm, Risk Based Security, released a study over 3,833 publicly-disclosed breaches and found that 78.5% of the total number of records exposed stem from only five individual breaches. Big data breaches can seriously harm our commerce, and this figure is yet another reminder about the importance of cybersecurity.
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What are the risks of data theft?

With big data comes big risks…

This is even more the case in today’s growing digital era. Any company or organisation can be at risk of data theft if they’re not careful. That’s why cybersecurity is crucial to ensure that any risk of data theft is kept at a minimum. It’s not just about working hard to prevent cyber-theft, but it’s about working smart to stay one step ahead of the game.

The risks are huge.
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Equifax takes financial hit following data breach scandal

Just like other companies who have suffered a publicised data breach, Equifax’s finances have reportedly taken a hit.

The credit-reporting agency enjoyed share prices at $146.26 in August 2017, but as soon as the breach was made public, the shares reportedly plummeted to just $92.98 in the following month.

Low third-quarter profits may reflect trust issues in the firm after Equifax suffered a data breach that exposed the sensitive information of over 145 million people, including thousands here in the U.K.

Our Data Leak Team are already acting for U.K. victims.
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Charity worker prosecuted for sending confidential information about vulnerable people to himself

Robert Morrisey was prosecuted by Preston Crown Court for sending confidential information about 183 people to his personal computer.

At the time of the breach, Morrisey was working as a mentoring co-ordinator for Rochdale connections Trust charity.

In copying the sensitive information without permission or the knowledge of his employer, Morrisey lost his job. He also lost his position as a Magistrate and was ordered to pay over £1,800.00.
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Is the ethical handling of data the new moral responsibility for businesses and organisations? Could it help gain a competitive advantage?

The ethical handling of data has always been the aim of data protection watchdogs and officials. Companies and organisations have the responsibility to handle data securely under the Data Protection Act (DPA), but there is a term known as ‘ethically handling data‘ that’s growing in popularity.

The difference with ethical handling of data and normal handling of data goes beyond privacy, some believe. It’s about whether customers are aware of how their data will be used and how it will be protected from third parties above and beyond what anyone would generally assume.
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Multiple British intelligence and law enforcement agencies to investigate Uber hack and cover-up

Uber recently admitted to a historic data breach that compromised personal data belonging to some of its 57 million users and drivers worldwide. With six million of those users in the U.K., a significant number of people in Britain are expected to be potentially at risk of further criminal activity like fraud and digital harassment.

To make matters worse, the breach happened a year ago in October 2016, but instead of telling the authorities, Uber decided to ‘handle it’ by finding the hackers and paying them off to keep quiet.
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NHS remote and automated systems: What are the concerns?

In the past few years, the National Health Service (NHS) has made attempts to expand and ease the pressure on its extremely busy and hectic services with use of new technology. This included setting up an entire NHS internal email system that allows staff to send ‘secure’ emails to each other to share ‘sensitive information’.

An electronic prescription service is also available that allows GPs to send a prescription directly to a pharmacy.

But in the increasingly interconnected digital world, what are the concerns over using such technology? Should we be worried?
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NHS data breaches and NHS data breach compensation

The National Health Service (NHS): the provider of the nation’s healthcare that we put our trust and confidence in to look after us and care for our bodies and minds. In that trust, we usually give them unlimited access to our medical records.

Within those medical records, the NHS know all about our bumps, scrapes, embarrassing ailments and our most guarded mental health issues. They are a target for hackers and are leading the leagues when it comes to the highest number of breaches, which is very worrying. A lot of it is down to inadequate systems and procedures, but for the victims, it can become a life-changing event.
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