back to article Thousands of 'lost data' reports mean we should ARM the ICO, says infosec bod

Thefts and losses of computers and laptops often go unreported to data privacy watchdogs and could represent a huge hidden risk for the leak of confidential data, according to new research. The Information Commissioner’s Office received 1,089 data breach reports between March 2014 and March 2015, yet police forces across the …

  1. Santa from Exeter
    FAIL

    Anyone else see the gaping hole?

    They are assuming that any device reported stolen contained sensitive data and was unencrypted.

    It's all just marketing.

    1. DanDanDan

      Re: Anyone else see the gaping hole?

      > ViaSat sells encryption technology so it has a commercial interest in trying to drive demand

      Agreed!

      1. Graham Marsden

        Re: Anyone else see the gaping hole?

        Ok, company selling encryption software wants to big-up the risks is hardly unexpected, but the fact is that "the private sector is still greatly under-reporting the number of potential breaches it encounters" because they'd far rather sweep it under the carpet than admit to their failures which could stop people from using their services...

        1. James 100

          Re: Anyone else see the gaping hole?

          No surprise there really: if the small company I work for had a data leak, would I or anyone else publicly report it? I honestly don't know: with no legal obligation to do so, I imagine not. Why would we? Of course, I like to be proactive and keep everything properly secured anyway...

          This company's got a product to push, of course, but that doesn't necessarily make it wrong. I'd like to see the ICO giving more detailed guidance (to be fair, they do already give some) and explicitly linking future penalties to how closely they've complied with it. (Maybe they do that now - but if so, that needs to be more widely reported, so everyone else knows about it.)

          1. Graham Marsden

            Re: Anyone else see the gaping hole?

            > if the small company I work for had a data leak, would I or anyone else publicly report it?

            That would depend on what data you were holding. If you were working for a larger company, data leaks should most probably be reported.

            The issue is where the lines are drawn, not whether there should or shouldn't be reporting.

  2. Jim 59

    Unintelligible Headline of the Week

    Compare with the headlines of 5 years ago. Here's how the Reg got its reputation for clarity and good humour:

    http://web.archive.org/web/20100705120959/http://www.theregister.co.uk/

  3. Vic

    Never going to happen.

    Encryption is only used by evil people, and needs to be banned.

    Our glorious overlord David Camoron told me so...

    Vic.

    1. Fruit and Nutcase Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: Never going to happen.

      Whilst the Data Protection Act exempts Domestic purposes, the items of data held by individuals on their own devices about themselves and others is no less valuable. So, encrypt and be damned

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like