You have heard the importance of data security, data storage and data backup. However the importance of these cannot be overstated. Thus to better understand the consequences of data loss, here are 5 real life examples of data loss that caused enormous problems for various companies and institutions.
Two computer discs containing data about child benefits on nearly 25 million people out of which around 7 million were families was lost by the HMRC. The data on the discs was so important as it contained the names, addresses and other personal information. The data was never recovered.
Details of at least 3 million different driving test candidates were lost. This data included names, addresses and phone numbers and effectively meant that 3 million people had to take the test again.
A memory stick containing data on all the prisoners in both England and Wales was lost. The stick also contained data on many other offenders. This loss was due to negligence by the Home Office contractor PA consulting.
A health worker was responsible for losing a memory stick containing the medical details of thousands of prisoners. Although the data was encrypted, the worker was careless to leave a note with the password on the memory stick.
A hard drive containing sensitive files and personal details on numerous army personnel was lost. It is said that the data was not encrypted and to top it off contained details on potential new recruits.
These were five instances in which data was lost due to carelessness and lack of security. Not only did this create disastrous situations for all these institutions but caused even more problems due to no backup being available. Thus one must ensure the security of their data and ensure a backup is always present in case of an emergency.
