Data breaches that arise after new EU data protection laws take effect but which stem from security flaws that were known about prior to then will be enforced under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK’s data protection watchdog has said. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) clarified the position in a blog about the […]

The government is to amend the data protection bill to protect security researchers who work to uncover abuses of personal data, quelling fears that the bill could accidentally criminalise legitimate research. The move follows a Guardian report on the concerns, and has been welcomed by one of the researchers who raised the alarm. “I am very […]

IT HAS BEEN REPORTED that the number of companies fined for data breaches doubled last year as Britain’s privacy watchdog cracked down on organisations for not protecting customer information. As many as 3bn customer records are estimated to be breached this year, according to a new report from Juniper Research. THIS NEWS comes as Virgin […]

The ICO has fined Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance PLC (RSA) £150,000 following the loss of the personal information of nearly 60,000 customers. An ICO investigation looked at the theft of a hard drive device containing 59,592 customers’ names, addresses and bank account details including account numbers and sort codes. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2017/01/150-000-fine-for-insurance-company-that-failed-to-keep-customers-information-safe/ https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/enforcement/royal-sun-alliance-insurance-plc/

Software vulnerabilities, lost hard drives and CDs, malicious insiders, poor security – the UK’s most important data breaches reveal just how many ways data can be put at risk. It’s tempting to believe that important data breaches only happen in the US and the figures tend to bear that out – the US accounts for […]

The ICO has ruled that the FCA does not have to release the majority of its internal guidance on attestations. On 8 October the applicant made a freedom of information request for the FCA’s internal guidance on attestations. The FCA responded that although it did hold some guidance on the use of attestations it was […]