Personal Data and PC Security
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There have been two stories this week that demonstrate how the protection of personal data, especially on home computers used to access bank accounts, should remain a top priority for everyone.
The first story is that personal data including the signatures of recipients has been exposed to those tracking deliveries on the Parcelforce website. A failure in the system allowed people using the mail tracing service access to the name, postcode and signature of various addressees.
This information could easily me used by a fraudster to begin the process of stealing someone’s identity.
According to data protections laws, businesses have a responsibility to keep personal and sensitive information secure. Any organisation which processes personal information must ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to keep that information secure.
This was clearly not the case with the Parcelforce system.
This is not the first case of potential exposure of sensitive data. I’m sure everyone remembers the case from November 2007 when HM Revenue and Customs lost two computer discs that held the entire child benefit database, including the personal details of 25 million people, covering 7.25 million families.
And yet unwitting potential fraud victims do not only have to worry about their data being lost or stolen from third parties. According to the UK fraud prevention service, cases of “takeover fraud” in the UK increased by 75% in the last year.
This means that instead of fraudsters using stolen details to take out credit, they takeover the existing bank accounts of their victims. This fraud is thought to have become more popular because of the problems fraudsters have had getting credit from recession hit banks.
Usually, victims do not even know that the fraud has taken place. The number of malware programmes – an umbrella term which encompasses viruses, spyware and other malicious software – jumped by more than 400% last year compared with 2007.
With more and more people placing sensitive data online it is vitally important that they know how to protect it. Searching for loans online is a good way of finding the best deal quickly, but customers should always check that websites are genuine before they input their details.
