ICO hit by data security breach

Data, data data
Snafu at the ICO

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the entity in charge of making sure British organisations (and the government) keep private data secure, has been hit by a data security breach.

The snafu was published in the ICO's annual report and the body has, according to the Times, been less than amicable when it comes to disclosing more details about the breach.

Christopher Graham, the head of the ICO, revealed that the organisation had suffered what it calls a "non-trivial data security incident" over the last year, one that has prompted a "full internal investigation".

It is not the first time that the ICO has been hit by a data breach. Another one, dating back from 2011, was revealed after being reported in its annual report which stated back then that it was a self-reported breach with "no resulting adverse impact on, or damage to, individuals and the ICO is treating the matter no differently from similar incidents report by others".

The news comes as the privacy watchdog recorded a significant rise in the number of complaints last year, up by almost 10% to just under 15,500. That prompted Graham to ask for a bigger budget as well as increased powers.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.