Cloud data breaches and what can be done

In today’s digital age, cloud data breaches are becoming more and more common, and they are set to continue to be more common as more of the world moves toward this way of working.

It is no secret that the Coronavirus Pandemic has potentially helped to push more organisations into this way of working and thinking as well. When many of us were suddenly faced with the need to stay in and work from home, this forced some businesses to adapt there and then.

Security, however, is a very important part of this. It is inexcusable to leave personal information open and accessible in the cloud, and victims whose personal information is misused or exposed could be eligible to claim compensation.

Increasing prevalence of cloud data breaches

As the world moves more and more toward a digitised way of not only doing business but also running and managing our everyday lives, the increasing prevalence of cloud data breaches can go hand-in-hand with this ethos.

A lot of personal information is now stored in the cloud, and host providers could be processing the information for millions of people for numerous organisations. It makes sense that cybercriminals are targeting these kinds of platforms as they may only need one weak link to be able to access a trove of personal and sensitive information.

This aspect of life is something that we all need to be wary of, and this goes for us personally as well as organisations that make use of cloud databases. It is not enough for organisations to just rely on a company involved in the processing of customer and employee data – organisations need to be engaging and make sure that it is well protected.

The Virgin Media data leak of 2020

In early 2020, it was discovered that a database that contained the details of some 900,000 people was accessible online due to the incorrect configuration of the database. Whilst we do not know the full extent as to where the database was, this is an example of what we are talking about when it comes to the potential dangers of cloud data breaches.

Any defence is only as good as its weakest link, so leaving a database accessible when it should not be is a grave error of judgement.

The data leak was actually discovered by a third-party security researcher who then alerted Virgin Media to the problem. By that point, the database had already been accessible for some 10 months, and had already been accessed by at least one unknown third party.

It is known that hackers and criminals use the same kinds of techniques that security researchers do to identify easy targets. Leaving information open and accessible for anyone to access is like leaving the door of your house open – it just invites the criminals in to take advantage of the situation. Cloud data breaches that occur as a result of unsecured databases are errors that should never really occur.

Virgin Media compensation action

We currently represent thousands of clients who have signed up to pursue a claim for data breach compensation having been notified of their involvement in the Virgin Media data leak. We are operating on a No Win, No Fee basis for those who are eligible, and you may still be in time to join the action.

You can sign up for a legal case here now.

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