Could Dropbox Be Opening Your Docs?
A blog post on WNC InfoSec yesterday queried whether online storage service Dropbox was opening documents shortly after they were uploaded on their service. And the answer is yes. Sort of. With all the media attention on the topic of surveillance these days reading such a posting could make Dropbox users feel very nervous indeed […]
Databreach at O2 Ireland
Today the mobile network operator O2 announced that it suffered a security breach. The breach occurred in the summer of 2011 when O2’s IT provider IBM lost a backup tape. O2 was made aware of the loss this summer an in their press release say they have been working with the Data Protection Commissioner’s office […]
RSA Breach, What You Should Do.
As most of you who read this blog will know by now RSA suffered a significant security breach on their network back in March. Since then there have been a number of other security breaches, most notably against Lockheed Martin, which have implicated the RSA security breach in some way. However, despite a lot of […]
Speaking at the Third Annual ICS Data Protection Conference
On Thursday I will be speaking at the Third Annual ICS Data Protection Conference which will be held in the Radison Blu hotel in Dublin’s Golden Lane. This is one of the conferences I enjoy a lot as it brings in people from various different disciplines to discuss the issues of protecting the personal data […]
Today is Privacy and Data Protection Day
Today, the 28th of January 2011, marks the European Privacy and Data Protection Day. In a time when our online privacy is being eroded by the use of social networks and companies and governments continue to store our personal details in ever increasing databases, today is a day to reflect on how your use of the […]
Discussing Online Privacy – Don't be A Victim Online
You may remember that in 2008 I was challenged by technical journalist Marie Boran to steal her identity using only information I could get online. I subsequently spoke at a number of conferences on the subject and you can find a copy of that presentation online. Last Thursday both Marie and I were invited onto […]
Proposed Data Security Breach Code of Practise
As someone who has been campaigning for mandatory data breach disclosure laws in Ireland for a number of years I am pleased to see the proposed Data Security Breach Code of Practise from the office of the Data Protection Commissioner. I have long argued that organisations need to realise that the data they hold on […]
The Cost of Privacy
I got an email today pointing me to this story in Time magazine, Trying to Escape the Surveillance State, where a journalist tries to live for a month without his privacy being impinged. It led to a conversation about privacy and whether or not there is privacy on the Internet or will people pay the […]
Annual Report from Data Protection Commissioner Released
The 21st annual report from the Data Protection Commissioner’s office has been released. As usual it makes for some very interesting reading. The report notes that the number of breaches reported to the office has doubled since the previous year. Most of these reported breaches are from organisations within the public sector. While the first […]
Data Breach – What Next?
The above is the title of the talk that I gave at this years Data Protection Conference run by the Irish Computer Society. It was a great event with some excellent speakers ranging from practitioners, to legal experts and the Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes. Bruce Scheier also addressed the conference via a video link. […]