A data breach refers to any situation where data has been put at risk. A data hack happens when criminals break into an organisation’s systems to steal information.
The impact of a data hack can be devastating. But despite this, cybercriminals are still getting away with billions of pounds worth of records each year.
To make matters worse, this information is often used to commit further crimes against victims of the initial breach. So it’s no wonder that people commonly suffer emotional anguish, anxiety and stress after a data hack.
At Keller Lenkner UK, our data breach lawyers help people to make successful data hacking claims to compensate for their loss and distress. Where enough people come forward, we do this by launching a group action case.
START A NO-WIN, NO-FEE DATA HACKING CLAIM WITH OUR EXPERIENCED CYBERCRIME LAWYERS.
In 2020, over 100 educational and third-sector organisations were put at risk following a breach of the Blackbaud cloud platform. Blackbaud – a firm that provides administration, fundraising, and financial management software – was targeted by cybercriminals in a devastating cyber-attack. The hackers demanded a ransom in exchange for deleting the data, which Blackbaud paid.
The Dixons Carphone Warehouse data breach resulted in 10 million customer records being accessed from Currys PC World and Dixons Travel stores.
In 2020, EasyJet admitted that, as well as the personal details of nine million customers, over 2,000 passengers had their credit card details accessed by hackers.
In 2017, poor security processes at Equifax led to a huge data breach. The ICO has since fined Equifax £500,000 and people who have been affected by the breach can register to make a compensation claim.
Hackney Council was sit by a serious cyberattack that affected most of its services. If you think you may have lost data in this incident, contact Keller Lenkner and we will help you to investigate that loss.
The Maze ransomware group attacked the computer systems of Hammersmith Medicines Research (HMR) – a company which performs early clinical trials of drugs and vaccines. The criminal group had previously promised not to attack medical organisations during the coronavirus outbreak.
Fintech startup LOQBOX – a company that helps people to improve their credit ratings – suffered a cyber-attack in February 2020. As well as personal data, some financial information was also breached.
In 2018, a huge data breach put 339 million Marriott International customers at risk. And, in 2020, Marriott confirmed another data breach – this time involving the personal information of 5.2 million guests.
The National Trust has issued a data breach alert after a cyberattack on cloud computing company Blackbaud. Blackbaud provides software to the National Trust. The National Trust confirmed that data about its volunteering and fundraising communities has been compromised. Its 5.6 million members are not though to be at risk.
OnePlus has emailed customers to let them know that a data breach put their personal information at risk. Worse, OnePlus confirmed that the hack resulted in customer order information falling into the hands of an unauthorised third-party.
Anyone involved in the People’s Energy breach could now be at risk. Customers are being warned that criminals might try and contact them using the stolen contact details. Victims of this breach are now at a greater risk of fraud, theft, and scams.
If your data was included in this breach, and you live in England & Wales, you may be able to make a compensation claim with Keller Lenkner UK.
In 2019, The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) suffered a severe data breach following a ransomware cyber-attack hit the PFEW headquarters. Around 120,000 current and former officers are affected.
In November 2019, T-Mobile suffered a severe data breach. Over a million pre-paid customers are believed to be affected. T-Mobile was very unforthcoming about the data hack and did not provide additional information at the time of the breach.
In June 2018, Ticketmaster admitted to a huge data breach. The breach happened after a supplier to Ticketmaster was infected with malicious software while having access to the Ticketmaster website. The Ticketmaster data breach affects up to 40,000 people.
In December 2020, UK cosmetic surgery provider Transform Hospital Group Ltd., also known as The Hospital Group, admitted that it had been hit by a ransomware data security attack. This incident resulted in the theft of extremely sensitive customer data.
You might be eligible for data hack compensation if an organisation has failed to protect your personal data.
Stolen data is easy to buy on the dark web, so if you are the victim of a data privacy violation, it is quite likely that different criminals could be trying to use your data against you.
Stolen data is also used in batches over time, so the impact of a data hack might not be immediately apparent.
IF YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF A DATA HACK BECAUSE OF POOR DATA PROTECTION PROCESSES, WE CAN HELP YOU TO CLAIM COMPENSATION FROM THE ORGANISATION RESPONSIBLE.
While each case is judged on its own merits, there are some things we would typically look for when it comes to when claiming compensation following a data breach, cybercrime or other GDPR violation:
With stolen data, cybercriminals can make purchases using your bank and credit cards, apply for credit in your name, set up fraudulent bank accounts and access your existing online accounts.
GDPR failures, cybercrime and data breaches can have a significant impact on you, both mentally and physically. They can cause or exacerbate anxiety, stress and other psychological conditions.
In many cases, data hacks and cyber-attacks happen because of a failure to implement reasonable and robust processes. Often because of the cost needed to do this.
But, by not putting adequate processes and training in place, organisations are leaving customers open to an increased risk of cyber scams and avoidable mistakes that lead to data breaches.
See our answers to the FAQs we get asked about data hacking.
Keller Lenkner UK is one of only two firms pursuing legal action against British Airways and the deadline to join our action is fast approaching.
Our expert data protection lawyers explain how to find out if HMR breached your data, as well as answering some of the other frequently asked questions in this case.
Under the GDPR, any organisation that handles personal information such as names, email addresses, phone numbers, and payment details must put robust measures in place to keep this data safe. And the more you know about the GDPR, the easier it is to hold organisations to account when they fail to do this.
