Personal Data Of Hundreds Of Visa Applicants Accidentally Leaked In Email

By   ISBuzz Team
Writer , Information Security Buzz | Aug 16, 2019 02:39 am PST

According to this link, https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2019-08-15/bupa-immigration-medical-data-breach/11413740, the personal health information of 317 people applying for Australian visas was accidentally emailed to a member of the general public, an ABC investigation has revealed.

The security bungle occurred when a spreadsheet was sent by mistake to an unknown individual’s email address, because of a typo.

Documents obtained under a Freedom of Information request by the ABC reveal that in August 2015, an SHP employee accidentally sent the names, dates of birth, and passport numbers of 317 people, along with “brief notes, summaries and comments about the status of the medical tests being conducted” to an unknown Gmail address.

It was a mistake that would eventually lead Google Australia to intervene.

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Stuart Sharp
Stuart Sharp , VP of Solution Engineering
August 16, 2019 10:41 am

While on the surface it appears that breaches like these are easily avoidable, the fact is that humans are the still weakest link in our cyber security defense strategies. The details of the breach are still unknown, but with 4 out of 5 breaches involving human or process errors, companies and government bodies must do everything possible to prevent data breaches through technical controls and user education.

Last edited 4 years ago by Stuart Sharp

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