The impact of consumer data breaches

The digitisation of the business world has led to millions of consumers’ personal information being held in servers and databases. Whether you’re doing some online shopping, or signing up for a social media account, you will often find yourself disclosing a great deal of personal information to third-party companies. There should not be an inherent risk to giving businesses your information but, unfortunately, the negligence of some businesses can lead to victims suffering the impact of consumer data breaches.

In one infamous incident, approximately 900,000 UK consumers were affected by the Virgin Media data breach, which is understood to have been caused by the failure to secure a database containing personal data. The error significantly breached the privacy of those affected, as well as exposing them to potential security risks and facing threats from fraudsters and scammers.

All consumers have the right to know that their information is protected by the businesses to whom they disclose it, so businesses should be held accountable when they fail to do so. Anyone affected by the Virgin Media data breach could be eligible to make a claim in our group action to seek justice for any harm caused.

The scale of consumer data breaches

To cybercriminals, personal data can be an incredibly valuable resource, so it is unsurprising that they often try to target data stores in their largest forms. By aiming their attacks at large businesses with millions of customers, hackers can reap huge rewards.

The impact of consumer data breaches is such that thousands or even millions of people can be affected in a single event, particularly in cases where there are coordinated cyberattacks. On some occasions, hackers can exploit a cybersecurity vulnerability as a means of gaining access to a company’s systems, and this is a key point when it comes to the case in the Virgin Media data breach. The weakness in this incident could have allowed hackers to easily exploit the exposed information.

The security risks of data breaches

The impact of consumer data breaches can involve security risks for those affected. The hackers who have stolen the data may misuse it for their own profit, or they may sell it on for use by fraudsters.

Those fraudsters could then use the stolen details to target victims directly. If they have access to bank details, they could steal directly from victims’ accounts. Or, if they have contact details, they could send scam messages aiming to convince victims to hand over their bank details or other sensitive information.

These kinds of risks can become reality when information is left exposed to criminals.

Compensation claims for victims of the Virgin Media data breach

As specialists in data breach claims, we want to ensure that victims are fairly compensated for the impact of consumer data breaches, whether they suffered distress, fraud, or even a psychological injury. For victims of the Virgin Media data breach, we are offering No Win, No Fee representation to enable as many victims as possible to access the justice that they deserve.

With a wealth of expertise in data breach claims and group actions, Your Lawyers is well placed to hold Virgin Media to account. Our experience includes the British Airways group action, in which we are still fighting to achieve compensation awards for our clients.

If you were affected by the Virgin Media data breach, you can use our online form to sign up for a claim today.

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