Recent disclosures
from the Information Commissioner’s Office reveal alarming statistics
concerning data breaches in the UK. This information was issued under a request
to the Freedom of Information Act showing a tenfold increase in data breaches
in the past five years. The only good aspects of this report show that
organizations are reporting many more breaches.
Tero Pollanen, international
fraud prevention specialist has been preaching the importance of being aware of
the dangers of data breaches as well as prevention. The word is getting out as
demonstrated by ICO statistics that awareness of legal requirements of an
organization to secure information and imposing large fines of companies that
“lose” information is precipitating positive change. The telecom sector has
seen a decrease in the number of data breaches over the past five years.
The ICO offers a wealth of support and guidance to organizations
across the UK. New data suggests the both the health service and government
sectors are also responding to positive change and are now expected to report
serious breaches involving sensitive data and/or large volumes of personal data
to the ICO. Mr. Tero Pollanen reminds us both to be vigilant and to encourage
additional sectors to work with the ICO in reducing data breaches.
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