UK Biggest Data Loss Disasters of 2012

On the blog of EVault Inc. was published the following article:

The UK’s Biggest Data Loss Disasters of 2012

With the growth in the use of personal devices for work, it is no surprise that data loss increased in 2012. In fact, it is astounding to think that UK data loss in general has risen by an estimated 1,000 per cent in just under five years.

Here, we take a look back at some of the biggest data losses the UK faced in 2012.

NHS trust loses personal data
of 600 maternity patients, and kids
On at least two separate occasions in 2012, the NHS was forced to admit losing two unencrypted USB sticks containing highly sensitive personal patient data. In the first instance, the device in question contained data relating to around 600 maternity patients. A second USB stick containing the names and dates of birth of 30 children and full audiology reports of a further three was also lost. This caused great embarrassment to the NHS, and distress to the patients whose confidential information was compromised.

Lost data blunders costing  councils £1.9 million
A series of blunders by various UK councils led to them being fined heavily for serious data breaches, including the disclosure of highly sensitive, personal information. The fines totalled an astonishing £1.9 million. The mistakes included information being sent to the wrong people, while one individual even left hard copies of highly confidential documents on the train.

Shopacheck loses data on 1.4 million customers
In terms of the number of customers affected by any single data loss incident, Shopacheck experienced the biggest loss in 2012. The loan firm managed to lose sensitive financial information pertaining to 1.4 million of its customers after two back-up tapes went missing. The tapes contained highly confidential information including customer names, addresses, dates of birth, telephone numbers and email addresses.

Police force pays £120,000 penalty for data breach
Greater Manchester Police was fined £120,000 after a memory stick, which had no password protection, was stolen from an officer’s home. This caused a serious breach of data security, not least because the device contained information about members of the public who had given statements as part of drug investigations. It also contained details of police operations, potential arrest targets and the names of officers.

USB stick with nuclear plant data lost by ONR official
While on a business trip to India an Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) official lost an unencrypted USB memory stick containing data relating to one of the UK’s nuclear power stations in Hartlepool. What made it worse for this blundering individual was the ONR confirming that unencrypted USB sticks should not be used for transporting documents with a security classification. It seems this official should have thought a little more about effective ways to protect his organisation’s sensitive data.

As these examples demonstrate, data loss can largely be attributed to human error and ineffective backup and security solutions. Once again, we are reminded of the importance of implementing effective data protection policies. Many of these disasters could have been mitigated with the use of a solution such as EVault’s Endpoint Protection for mobile devices (laptops and tablets), or by using the cloud, to backup sensitive company data.

Let’s hope that businesses realise this in 2013!