Category Archives: Data Loss

What Are Your Digital Assets Worth To You?

November 10, 2011

A survey in the States has revealed some shocking results demonstrating that Americans have a tendency to not bother backing up their data.

The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research and found that 51% of Americans have experienced a computer crash leading to them loosing all of their digital files.

More than one-third admitted they had never backed up their computers or haven�t done so in the last twelve months.

A staggering 40% of Americans admitted that they would have no way of recovering, recreating or repurchasing such data.

�It is interesting to contrast the way people insure their treasured possessions, like their home and their car, with the ways in which they leave often-irreplaceable digital assets unprotected. Most have experienced at least one major disaster, yet are still not taking simple steps to protect the contents of their computer� David Friend, CEO of Carbonite.

The most common files to be stored by Americans are photos and music. Fifty- five percent of those surveyed stored photos and 46% stored music.

Eighty-two percent of people keep only electronic files on their personal hard drive with the majority of these keeping files nowhere else.

Putting a value on digital data is often difficult but the survey made some interesting comparisons. For instance 50% of Americans would rather loose an entire year of vacation time than loose all of the files on their computer. Thirty-four percent would rather give up wine and beer for a year. Thirty-eight percent would rather loose their wedding ring. Sixty-two percent would pay as much as $500 to retrieve their documents and files while 27% said that they would pay whatever it took.

Data loss affects 800 hospital patients

October 10, 2011

It has been revealed that East Surrey hospital in Redhill have lost an unencrypted USB memory stick that contains confidential records of 800 patients. The data loss was revealed in the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS trust annual report which stated that it had occurred in September 2010. Local press who have access to this document reported that the unencrypted USB memory stick contained information regarding patients� dates of birth, names, addresses and operation details. The hospital decided not to take up the option of informing the affected patients of this loss.

Surrey and Sussex chief executive Michael Wilson said �All staff should always use encrypted memory sticks when transferring patient data. It is regrettable that this didn�t happen on this occasion and the member of staff has been taken through the Trust�s disciplinary procedures and has received further training.�

An unexplained issue regarding this data loss is that the hospital has a policy in place that demands that all data being kept on removable data drives should be encrypted. This case shows a clear sign of negligence and raises concerns over how much data is being transported without being encrypted beforehand

The Check Point UK managing director, Terry Greer-King stated �The incident shows that security policies do need to be enforced by solutions that automate data encryption and bar the use of unauthorised devices, so that users have to adhere to those policies.�

This isn�t the first time and most probably will not be the last time that data from hospitals is lost, compromising sensitive and confidential data belonging to hundreds of patients. Only last year, an unencrypted USB stick belonging to the East & North Hertfordshire NHS Trust which contained details of patients conditions and treatments was carelessly lost on a train by a junior doctor.

This latest case isn�t good reading for those involved in the NHS as The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) released figures in 2010 showing that the NHS recorded the highest number of data loss incidents of any UK sector.

It is very clear that the NHS Trusts have been treated very leniently regarding incidents of data loss and have managed to avoid the punishments and sanctions that private companies face if such incidents occur.

Grant Taylor, a VP with encryption and security specialist, Cryptzone stated �Had this been a private company, rather than an NHS Trust, the organisation would have been publicly censured and a large fine levied under the Data Protection Act.�

The Sun Suffers Data Breach

August 2, 2011

A Hacking attack on the Sun�s website has lead to thousands of people�s data being compromised.

News International who oversee the publication of the paper has emailed thousands of people to let them know that hackers have stolen their personal details and have posted them publically on the popular hacking site, Pastebin.

An email sent on Monday evening by the director of customer care for News International, Chris Duncan stated that �some customer information from competitions and polls was breached.�

Data stolen includes information from an Xbox competition, a Wrigleys football competition, a list of Scottish students as well as a forum for bullied people. Much of the information comprises of personal information including phone numbers and addresses. Lucky for the Sun however, �no financial or password information was compromised,� Duncan.

Duncan re-assured that News International is working closely with the police as well as the information commissioner �to ensure that all steps are taken to retrieve the files involved.�

Twitter has become the platform on which hackers appear to announce their work today, and this time was no different. Responsibility was claimed by the username Batteye.

It is unclear where Batteye is from however he has denied any association with the hacking group LulzSec which has suffered 3 arrests in the past few weeks in Britain.

LulzSec have 4GB of incriminating emails belonging to the Sun which last month they said they may never release. However with some of their members being arrested and a renewed interest in the Sun there is a real danger they may change their mind.

X-Factor Suffers Data Breach

May 5, 2011

In a week that has been dominated by the huge data breach suffered by Sony, which has resulted in over 100 million user details being compromised, it seems cyber criminals have turned their attentions to another well known brand.

This week hackers successfully broke into the Fox Networks computer systems and stole the details of over 250,000 acts who applied for this year�s show in the U.S. This has resulted in senior chiefs from Fox as well as the shows creator, Simon Cowell, contacting the FBI to investigate the breach. Fox are worried that the data could now be used to con millions of dollars from the acts who�s information has been stolen.

Fox Broadcasting has since sent an email to all the acts warning them of the breach. The email admits to the breach and says that information including names, email addresses, zip codes, phone numbers, date of birth and gender could have all been accessed. They were keen to stress that no financial information was stolen during the breach.

The email went on to say �We are taking this matter very seriously and are working with federal law enforcement authorities to investigate this illegal action. The X Factor will never ask you to email personal information such as financial data, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers or the user name or passwords you use to access other websites. If you receive an email that appears to be from Fox.com or The X Factor asking for personal information, please delete it, as it did not come from us.�

With another data breach making headline news and with confidential data able to be exposed to both external and internal threats, companies large and small should be focusing on how safe their network is and whether their data is securely protected both on and offsite.

Sony Hack

May 4, 2011

Sony has undergone a second hack just two weeks after the initial attack took place, meaning another 25million accounts may have been compromised on top of the original 77million. This second wave of attacks comes just days after the top Sony directors made a traditional Japanese apology in a board meeting.

�We deeply apologise for the inconvenience we have caused,� said Kazup Hirai (one of the executives which took a bow at the company�s headquarters in Tokyo).

The Sony Online Entertainment Network allows people to play multiplayer games with their peers or strangers across the Internet. The facility allows users to also download films as well as upgrades to games.

Among data stolen from Sony�s servers were names, addresses, emails, birth dates, phone numbers in addition to other information. Furthermore data was taken from an out-dated 2007 database.

24,000 financial records belonging to people from outside the U.S. have been taken. This includes bank details of customers in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. However Sony claim that there is no evidence that the information stolen has been used for illegal gain.

Mr Hirai is claiming that parts of the service would be back this week and that Sony has plans to significantly beef up security measures. However this doesn�t change the fact that some 3 million Britons using the Sony system have been caught up in the largest criminal cyber attack on record.