Category: GDPR

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Google’s £44 Million GDPR Fine

Google has been fined a massive 50 million euros (£44m) for breach of GDPR dating back to May 2018 and relating to how well people were informed about how Google collected data to personalise advertising, and the matter of consent. Who? Google (Alphabet Inc) has been fined £44 million by the French data regulator CNIL. …
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£15K Fine For Ignoring Data Access Requests

SCL Elections, the parent company of the now defunct Cambridge Analytica which was famously involved in the Facebook profile harvesting scandal, has been fined £15,000 for failing to respond to a data access request from a US citizen, and for ignoring an enforcement notice by the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Data Protection Act The…
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Warning – TV Licensing Scam Operating

Action Fraud, the UK’s Cybercrime reporting centre, has warned that fake TV licence payment scam emails have generated 5,247 complaints between 1st October and the end of December, with 1,983 complaints in December alone. What Emails? According to Action Fraud, the highly convincing scam involves sending people emails that use headlines such as “correct your…
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Huawei and ZTE Are Security Threat Warns Cyber Watchdog

A statement from the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NCISA) has warned network operators that using software or hardware made by Chinese telecom equipment suppliers Huawei and ZTE could represent a security threat. Why? Huawei, which the world’s biggest producer of telecoms equipment, is based in China, and according to the NCISA, private…
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Smart Botnet Detection Needed

For businesses to maintain an effective cyber defence, the ability to prevent, detect and stop smart botnets in real-time is now an important consideration. What Is A Botnet? A botnet is a term for multiple malicious mini-programs working together to take over large numbers of computers and digital devices for different purposes e.g. stealing data…
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Google Chrome’s ‘Incognito’ Mode Not So Incognito

Research by Internet Privacy Company DuckDuckGo is reported to have produced evidence that could show that even in Incognito mode, users of Google Chrome can still be tracked, and searches are still personalised accordingly. Incognito Mode Going incognito (private browsing mode) in Google Chrome means launching a separate ‘Incognito’ browser window by going to top…
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ICO Investigation Into Police Use of Facial Recognition Technology

ICO head Elizabeth Dunham is reported to have launched a formal investigation into how police forces use facial recognition technology (FRT) after high failure rates, misidentifications and worries about legality, bias, and privacy. Concerns Expressed In Blog Post In May In a blog post on the ICO website back in May, Elizabeth Dunham expressed several concerns…
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70% Increase In DDoS Cyber Attacks On Black Friday Prompts Christmas Warning

Cyber security experts are warning companies with online shops to have adequate protection against DDoS attacks in place after a 70% increase in that kind of cyber-attack was recorded on Black Friday. What Is A DDoS Attack? A denial-of-service attack is a cyber-attack on that is intended to make a computer or network unavailable to…
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SIM Swap Scam Warning

A recent investigation by BBC TV’s Watchdog Live revealed evidence that some mobile phone shop staff are not conducting proper ID checks for replacement SIM requests, thereby enabling some customers to become victims of SIM swap scams. What is a SIM Swap Scam? SIM swap scams are believed to have been in existence for the…
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£385,000 Data Protection Fine For Uber

Ride-hailing (and now bike and scooter-hiring) service Uber has been handed a £385,000 fine by the ICO for data protection failings during a cyber-attack back in 2016. What Happened? The original incident took place in October and November 2016 when hackers accessed a private GitHub coding site that was being used by Uber software engineers.…
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