Margot Patrick reports: Equifax’s (EFX) U.K. arm was fined around $13.6 million Friday for failing to protect the data of millions of British customers in a 2017 hack of the credit-reporting company. The British arm outsourced customer-data processing to the U.S., and then failed to manage or monitor data security, the Financial Conduct Authority said. Read…
Category: Non-U.S.
Queensland agencies to face mandatory data breach reporting
Judy Skatssoon reports: Queensland is set to join NSW as the only other Australian state to introduce a mandatory data breach notification scheme. The state government says the Information Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, introduced on October 12, contains reforms aimed at improving the accountability of government agencies and boosting privacy protections in…
Philippine Statistics Authority cyberattack being probed
Ashley Erika O. Jose reports: The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) confirmed on Wednesday that it is now investigating another cyberattack, this time on the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Separately, the National Privacy Commission (NPC) said it received a breach notification from the PSA on Tuesday. Based on its initial assessment, the PSA…
Justice department wants to fight R5 million fine over ransomware attack in court
Myles Illidge reports: The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) is taking the Information Regulator to court to appeal the R5 million fine the agency slapped it with after falling prey to a ransomware attack in 2021, TechCentral reports. Departmental spokesperson Steven Mahlangu reportedly said the court application was issued on 29 September 2023…
Citizen data leak: NID wing suspends access for suspected govt, pvt partner organisations
The national identity registration wing of the Election Commission [of Bangladesh] has suspended data access to a number of its government and private partner organisations over suspicions of leaking citizens’ data online, while putting all of its 174 service recipient organisations under watch. The wing’s Director General AKM Humayun Kabir informed reporters of the suspension…
Data of 900 Hongkongers exposed after hackers breach WhatsApp accounts of social services and schools
Connor Mycroft reports: Almost 900 Hong Kong people were victims of data breaches over the last month after fraudsters hijacked the WhatsApp accounts of social services and schools, the city’s privacy commissioner revealed on Thursday. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said that fraudsters had hacked the WhatsApp accounts of five social welfare services…