Sensitive personal information has been lost or stolen from councils in thousands of cases, research says.

Local authorities recorded 4,236 data breaches during a three-year period from April 2011, a study by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch says.

Its director Emma Carr said this showed "shockingly lax attitudes to protecting confidential information".

The Local Government Association said breaches are "proportionately rare" given the volume of data handled, though it noted that compliance with security controls must be improved.

Ms. Carr said: "Despite local councils being trusted with increasing amounts of our personal data, this report highlights that they are simply not able to say it is safe with them.

"A number of examples show shockingly lax attitudes to protecting confidential information. For so many children and young people to have had their personal information compromised is deeply disturbing.

"With only a tiny fraction of staff being disciplined or dismissed, this raises the question of how seriously local councils take protecting the privacy of the public."

"When [breaches] do occur, robust investigations and reviews are immediately undertaken to ensure processes are tightened."

 

You can read the full article on BBC News here.

 

 

The Most Powerful & Reliable Cybersecurity Products

change tracker gen7r2 logo

Change Tracker Gen 7R2: Complete configuration and system integrity assurance combined with the most comprehensive and intelligent change control solution available.

FAST Cloud logo

Fast Cloud: Leverage the world’s largest whitelist repository to automatically evaluate and verify the authenticity of file changes in real-time with NNT FAST™ (File Approved-Safe Technology)

vulnerability tracker logo

Vulnerability Tracker: The world’s only limitless and unrestricted vulnerability scanning solution with unparalleled accuracy and efficiency, protecting your IT assets on premises, in the cloud and mobile endpoints.

log tracker logo

Log Tracker: Comprehensive and easy to use security information & event log management with intelligent & self-learning correlation technology to highlight potentially harmful activity in seconds

Contact Us

Corporate Headquarters

Netwrix
6160 Warren Parkway, Suite 100
Frisco, Texas, 75034

Phone 1: 1-949-407-5125

Phone 2: 888-638-9749 (toll-free)


[email protected]
 

United Kingdom

Netwrix
5 New Street Square
London EC4A 3TW

Phone: +44 (0) 203 588 3023


 [email protected]
SC Magazine Cybersecurity 500 CSGEA Winners 2021 CIS benchmarking SEWP Now Certified IBM Security
Copyright 2024, New Net Technologies LLC. All rights reserved. 
NNT and Change Tracker are registered trademarks of New Net Technologies LLC.
All other product, company names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.