280 million people are victims of data loss

By Davey Winder
Monday, 10 November 2008 15:20

Home IT

Have you been a victim of personal data loss? It seems that you are not alone, as some 280 million people around the world are reported to have found themselves in the same position during the last three years.

With IT managers reporting an average of 34 security incidents every month and some IT Admins openly admitting that they will walk away with your data if sacked, everyone knows that data loss is a hot potato.

In my neck of the woods alone, the UK government has recently suffered high profile data loss incidents such as a data stick with personal details of all 84,000 prisoners in the UK going missing. Not forgetting the infamous loss of bank details concerning some 25 million citizens earlier in the year.

Which makes the proposed Big Brother Database containing details of every email and telephone conversation rather worrying to say the least, on so many levels. Orwellian worries are fast being overtaken by practical concerns over the ability of government bodies to protect privacy and prevent data loss.

The first Data Loss Barometer has been published by risk advisory and audit specialists KPMG, and confirms that this is not just a UK problem. So when you throw in facts such as the 12,000 laptops that are lost at US airports every single week, for example, a broader, global picture starts to emerge.

This world landscape view reveals that, during the course of the last three years alone, some 280 million people have seen personal details lost, 70 million of them as a result of PC theft. However, 53 million fell victim to government organisation cock-up.

This should come as no great surprise as British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has even gone as far as to admit that true data security is nothing but a myth.

KPMG says that "The survey shows that within public organisations and business, data loss is increasing in both number and significance each year – compromising the personal details and security of millions of people."