{"id":1740,"date":"2017-08-01T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dataleaklawyers.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1740"},"modified":"2017-08-01T11:07:27","modified_gmt":"2017-08-01T10:07:27","slug":"ico-data-security-incident-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dataleaklawyers.co.uk\/blog\/ico-data-security-incident-trends","title":{"rendered":"Recent ICO data security incident trends"},"content":{"rendered":"

A data breach is the intentional or unintentional release of secure or private\/confidential data by, say, employees, cyber-hackers, political activists or national governments.<\/p>\n

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the U.K.’s independent privacy watchdog who have the responsibility of upholding information rights for the benefit of the public interest. Though there isn’t a legal responsibility on companies and\/or organisations to report all data security breaches, it’s considered good practice to do so.<\/p>\n

Here’s a look at some of the recent data security incident trends from the ICO.
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DPA<\/h2>\n

The Data Protection Act (DPA) presses for companies and organisations to uphold information security:<\/p>\n

“…appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.”<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n

This is the 7th<\/sup> Data Protection principle. In practice, it means companies and\/or organisations must have appropriate cyber-security to prevent personal information being accidentally or deliberately compromised.<\/p>\n

The ICO provides tips as follows:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
To design and organise your cyber-security to fit the nature of the personal data you hold, and the harm that may result from a security breach.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Be clear about who in your organisation is responsible for ensuring information security. There should be a designated chief information officer.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ensure you have the right physical and technical security; this should be backed up by robust policies and procedures and well-trained staff.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Be ready to respond effectively to any data breaches.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

ICO’s penalties<\/h3>\n

The ICO has recently fined:<\/p>\n

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