ISO/IEC 27701 is the international standard for privacy information management systems and is a companion standard for ISO 27001. ISO/IEC 27701 enables organisations to demonstrate compliance with all applicable privacy regulations, including the GDPR and the Data...
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Cyber Security
GP surgery secretary fined
A former GP surgery secretary has been fined for reading medical records of 231 patients in two years, the ICO reported in 2018. A trip back in time to November of 2018 for this blog. We shouldn't forget that whilst this story may have a few cobwebs on it, this could...
UK cyber-crime rate has doubled in the past five years
The number of UK businesses that have suffered cyber-attacks has doubled in the past five years, according to a new report. Hastings based Beaming’s Five Years in Cyber Security found that 1.5 million organisations fell victim to cyber-crime in 2019. This...
WE’VE CHANGED OUR PRIVACY POLICY!
GDPR and POPI - MUST SOUTH AFRICANS COMPLY? The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) took effect on 25 May 2018 – as heralded by the million-or-so “We’ve changed our Privacy Policy” messages we all received at the time and continue to do so. Whilst...
Helping small businesses
We’re here to help you create added value for your clients and prospects As a client of the HR Dept we know how hard you work. We also know that we talk to the same people and are often asked where the GPDR resources pack should be kept. We always say, "with...
Privacy Shield ruled invalid
The EU's Court of Justice has just invalidated the "Privacy Shield" data sharing system between the EU and the US, because of overreaching US surveillance. Privacy Shield ruled invalid after hearing. Schrems argued that there were insufficient safeguards in place and...
Is Privacy Shield all but dead?
Commission conducting ‘preparatory work’ should ECJ invalidate privacy shield The European Commission is preparing for the eventuality that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) may invalidate the EU-US data transfer agreement know as the Privacy Shield. The agreement...
What is the best way to protect a business from cyber criminals?
A government report (National Cyber Security Centre[NCSC]) published in the last 12 months highlighted a plethora of cyber risks businesses are being placed at. Specifically, according to HISCOX in the UK, one small business is hacked...
Cyber Essentials
Getting protected with Cyber Essentials Businesses are at risk of being hacked by cyber criminals. In fact, some statistics indicate that cyber criminals are successful in hacking a business every 19 seconds. As an SME business, whatever sector you work in,...
Responding to a ransomware attack
You have become the victim of a ransomware attack. What is your plan for responding to a ransomware attack? The challenge is to protect your valuable data whilst managing the budget for doing so. With threats rising and budgets falling, this is not an easy task....
Cyber gangsters hit UK medical firm with Maze ransomware attack
Maze ransomware group has published personal and medical details of thousands of former patients of a medical research firm. This follows a ransomware attack on the business. The Maze ransomware group attacked the computer systems of Hammersmith Medicines...
Working from Home
With the current challenges we are facing, brought about Coronavirus, Covid-19, working from home is now mainstream. But, what does this mean to your data security, GDPR and do you have a working from home policy in place that all staff can understand? Children and...
Data protection health-checks
Why is a Data Protection Health Check important? GDPR, other regulations and data protection best practices are not one time operations. They aren't set and forget They are on-going, living projects that require constant attention and maintenance. The GDPR Compliance...
Amazon Phishing Scam
A phishing scam that’s trying to trick Amazon customers into handing over their account credentials, personal information, and financial details is happening now. The phishing emails purport to be notifications from Amazon informing the recipient that they need to...
Phishing attack risk
Are your employees prone to phishing attacks? Find out with our free test Did you know that 91% of successful data breaches started with a spear phishing attack? Find out what percentage of your employees are prone to this type of attack with your free...
Mumsnet data breach
Perhaps as many as 4,000 users affected Howard Freeman – 4th March 2019 Parenting website Mumsnet has revealed that a data breach occurred during a software update. This happened between 5th and 7th February,...
Data breaches increase across UK education sector
Howard Freeman – 1st March 2019 A worrying rise in data breaches being reported across the UK education sector was revealed by a recent freedom of information request. The EU GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) mandates data breaches must...
Internal Data Protection Policy
Howard Freeman – 28th February, 2019 The Creation of an Internal Data Protection Policy is a good way to start your compliance journey with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As interpretation of the regulation can be complex and challenging for most...