Data security breaches across private-sector businesses in the UK have rocketed by more than 1,000% over the past five years, according to official figures, sparking claims that financial penalties are having little impact.
The figures, obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the private sector has recorded a hike of 1,159% in data breaches since 2007. It also has the largest number of any sector, with 277 cases in 2011.
The largest rise has been in local government organisations, where attacks have risen by 1,690% over the period, while other public-sector breaches have increased by 1,380%.
In 2007, UK local government data controllers reported just 11 security breaches; by 2011 there were 188 instances.
Nick Banks, is head of EMEA and APAC, at data storage firm Imation, which carried out the FoI request.
He said: “The massive increase in data breaches in just five years is fairly startling. But perhaps more alarming is the consistent year-on-year increase in data breaches since 2007.
“The figures seem to show that increasing financial penalties have had little effect on the number of data breaches each year.”
“Organisations must take responsibility for preventing breaches, and with so much available technology there really is no excuse for failing to adequately protect data,” said Banks. “The current trend of increases must be reversed, and there is no reason why that is not achievable.”
The ICO could argue that it has only recently received adequate powers to impose stiff fines, as witnessed by its recent threat to miscreants to “wake up and smell the monetary penalty”.
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