Defending reputation during a data loss

Claims that a leading UK high street bank has been hit by a significant and alarming data security breach marks the latest in a long line of high profile data breaches to have taken place in the UK and the USA. In this case a “whistleblower” provided a newspaper with a memory stick containing the confidential information of 2,000 customers, detailing customers’ earnings, savings, mortgages, health issues, insurance policies, passports and national insurance numbers. Whilst the initial information provided to the newspaper concerned the details of 2,000 individuals, the “whistleblower” claimed to have access to the details of 27,000.

One of the most striking aspects of this story is the fact that not only has the breach affected so many people and involved such highly personal information, but that the source of the breach was not an external cyber hacker but rather a rogue employee.Contrary to what the media would have us believe, financial institutions generally have incredibly sophisticated data protection set-ups.