This summer sees the arrival of The Great Hack, a documentary exploring the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal and how it lifts the mask on the dark arts of personal data processing. The scandal has its roots in the start of this decade, when an apparently innocuous personality app appeared on Facebook in which millions […]
PrivSec podcast series
Stories of huge data breaches, record-breaking fines and the crucial issue of data privacy have seldom been out of mainstream media spotlight as we settle into the GDPR era. The revelations have fallen for good reason – for over 12 months now, European data regulators have been flexing new legislative muscles in a bid to […]
DPO 200: Recognising data protection professionals from across Europe
The Data Protection sector has experienced widespread change of regulatory and technology developments, particularly over the last 12 months following the enforcement of GDPR. GDPR celebrates its one year anniversary tomorrow, May the 25th 2018. The DPO 200, sponsored by OneTrust, in association with the GDPR Institut, recognises and celebrates individuals who have made significant […]
Don’t believe the hype: data privacy myths are a ticking time bomb
The extent to which a business analyses and acts upon its data can have a massive impact on its bottom line and ability to stay competitive in the marketplace. For businesses large and small, this presents a conundrum: how can we use data to our advantage, while maintaining consumer trust and complying with data protection […]
IoT entrepreneur underlines critical nature of device security
A tech chief has spoken out about the need for adequate data protection measures within IoT (Internet of Things) products, citing security as critical to winning consumer confidence. Jamie Siminoff, the founder and principal inventor behind the smart doorbell manufacturer, Ring, feels that the company’s devices’ success hinges on privacy safeguards and the ability to […]
US college victim of $1.8m ransomware attack
The digital infrastructure of a New York City college has been brought to a standstill following a ransomware attack which began in the early hours of last Wednesday (10th July). In a statement, president of Monroe College, Marc Jerome, told Inside Higher Ed: “Our team is working feverishly to bring everything back online, and we […]
Mid-market firms vulnerable to cyber-crime, study finds
Cyber-crime and security breaches cost Britain’s mid-market businesses at least £30 billion in the last year alone, a leading audit and accountancy firm says. Research conducted by Grant Thornton UK LLP reported that over half of interviewed companies (53%) said revenue had fallen by 3-10% in the wake of a data breach. The companies hit […]
Office 365 banned in German state schools due to privacy worries
Schools in Hesse, Germany will stop using Microsoft Office 365 because of a cyber-security risk which could lead to violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to reports, problems first started to arise when Microsoft took the decision to shut down its data centre in Germany in August 2018. The move increased users’ […]
Facebook hearings suggest cryptocurrency future for U.S. lawmakers
The U.S. governmental hearings on the new Facebook cryptocurrency will boost the crypto sector and underscores that digital currencies are now mainstream. This is the bullish assessment of CEO and founder of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations, deVere Group. Nigel Green’s comments come as the social media giant prepares to defend […]
Evite data breach bigger than initially thought
Haveibeenpwned.com has included a mass database haul containing around 101 Evite users who had their personal data compromised through a hacking spree. In May of this year, Evite, a social-planning website for creating, sending, and managing online invitations, announced that a malicious party had broken into the company’s servers to steal members’ private data. In […]
The dangers of not being aware of our data selves
The issues surrounding personal data has come into the spotlight, especially since the GDPR legislation came into play. The legislation condemns companies and industries that haven’t fully followed best practice guidelines when it comes to handling consumer data. We’ve seen tech giants come under fire for the way they’ve mishandled consumer data, passing it off […]
Hacker causes mass data breach in Bulgaria
A criminal party has stolen the private data of millions of citizens in Bulgaria, and has sent downloaded links to the data to local media. It is not yet known how many hackers are behind the stunt, but reports suggest that the data was stolen from Bulgaria’s National Revenue Agency (NRA), a branch of the […]
£282 million in two days: what we have learned from the BA and Marriott GDPR fines
From £3 million over the course of a year, to a cool £282 million in a single week. That’s the evolution that the ICO has undergone, when it hit the international hotel group Marriott with a mammoth £99.2 million fine just a day after issuing one twice that size – £183 million in total – […]