Data breaches in the age of cybercrime

In our current age of cybercrime, businesses and consumers are constantly having to manage the data security risks. When we disclose personal information to a third party, we implicitly trust that they will protect this data, but this is not always the case. Despite being conscious of the ever-evolving threats of cybercrime, some data controllers have yet to adapt to the new challenges that they face.

Arguably, cybercriminals have made even greater advances during the Covid-19 pandemic, with companies struggling to catch up. It may take increased pressure from regulators and consumers to ensure that companies implement further data protection measures.

Virgin Media is one company that has failed to protect people’s data, leaving it open to misuse by all manner of cybercriminals. In our group action, anyone who was affected can sign up to claim compensation and hold Virgin Media to account.

The age of cybercrime: what does it mean for personal data?

The new age of cybercrime has seen the development of increasingly sophisticated methods of attack, which have been hitting organisations and individuals with greater frequency. While this was already the case before the coronavirus pandemic, it is believed that cybercrime has become more pervasive since the outbreak began. Research from October found that there had been a 31% increase in cyber scams during the peak of the pandemic (between May and June).

Ransomware has also been on the rise in recent years, often causing large-scale attacks taking over entire networks. For example, ransomware was responsible for the huge WannaCry NHS cyberattack that occurred in 2017, affecting dozens of UK healthcare trusts.

Cybercrime and the Virgin Media data breach

In some cases, it does not take a targeted cyberattack to expose personal information. In the Virgin Media data breach, cybercriminals could have been able to access the exposed database because it had been left unsecured for ten months.

In this new age of cybercrime, hackers are always on the lookout for holes in cybersecurity defences, which is why businesses must rigorously monitor their systems.

Using the exposed email addresses and phone numbers, cybercriminals could be able to target Virgin Media victims with a variety of scams, in messages or over the phone. Data breach victims are commonly targeted with phishing emails, which can involve cybercriminals posing as reputable companies in an effort to extract personal data, such as bank account details.

We believe that the victims have been unfairly exposed to cybercrime risks such as this due to what we believe is Virgin Media’s negligence.

Join our Virgin Media group action

In this new age of cybercrime, we cannot allow companies that expose people’s data to get away with their negligence of data protection law. We believe, therefore, that it is vital that affected victims make a claim to hold Virgin Media accountable for their actions.

In a claim, victims could be eligible to recover compensation for any distress and the financial losses that resulted from the data breach. Our group action could enable thousands of victims to claim in one lawsuit, allowing us to present a strong, united front against Virgin Media.

If you were notified of your involvement in the Virgin Media data breach, go to our online form to start your claim today.

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