Following the news of Meta being fined £265 Million pounds over data protection breach that hit more than 500m users, cyber security experts provide insight into how companies could better protect themselves from data breaches.
Every single one of the 533m Facebooks users whose information was published on hacking forums faced potential follow-up phishing scams exploiting their exposed PII in the pursuit of more valuable credentials.
So, whilst the initial data leak was back in 2021, it’s nonetheless encouraging to see fines being issued retrospectively. Hopefully the consequences here will encourage other enterprises to comply to cyber regulations and follow best practices to avoid a mercenary penalty in future, particularly given cyber insurers increasingly setting a higher bar for due diligence to avoid extortionate pay outs like this one.
Meta should not be the scapegoat of those worried about misuse of personal data. 4.1 billion records leaked in the first 6 months of 2019 alone. In recent poll of 1,000 US companies, nearly half (45%) claim they have faced a major data breach within the past five years. The situation is unlikely to be less grave anywhere else.
If you are worried about how your personal information can be misused, here are some tips to manage the risk:
Reduce your digital footprint by closing unused online and social media accounts
Use strong, unique passwords to protect password protected accounts
Use a password manager to organise your unique passwords
Use multi-factor authentication capability where it is available
Avoid clicking on links in emails. Don’t open emails from people you don’t know
Secure your wireless network with a strong password
Use your mobile data to connect to the internet instead of public Wi-Fi networks
Enable remote location and device-wiping of your mobile devices
Use anti-virus or anti-malware protection for your mobile devices
Every single one of the 533m Facebooks users whose information was published on hacking forums faced potential follow-up phishing scams exploiting their exposed PII in the pursuit of more valuable credentials.
So, whilst the initial data leak was back in 2021, it’s nonetheless encouraging to see fines being issued retrospectively. Hopefully the consequences here will encourage other enterprises to comply to cyber regulations and follow best practices to avoid a mercenary penalty in future, particularly given cyber insurers increasingly setting a higher bar for due diligence to avoid extortionate pay outs like this one.
Meta should not be the scapegoat of those worried about misuse of personal data. 4.1 billion records leaked in the first 6 months of 2019 alone. In recent poll of 1,000 US companies, nearly half (45%) claim they have faced a major data breach within the past five years. The situation is unlikely to be less grave anywhere else.
If you are worried about how your personal information can be misused, here are some tips to manage the risk: