Data Way to Go - Why Data Theft is a Continuing Problem

“Stealing, you'll go far in life. Actually, there is something funny about getting away with it.” American TV and film producer Mike Judge might have had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he said the above quote but the phenomena of having private information stolen is certainly no laughing matter. Whether it is internet fraudsters or negligent banks and hospitals, having your personal information tampered with is a common occurrence nowadays.

More and more cases of data theft are appearing in the Irish news. It is not as if this happens every single day but the upward trend in incidents is worrying.

The recent theft of a laptop containing files on more than a thousand patients from the house of a senior medical officer in the Health Service Executive, just highlights how easy personal information can be taken without our consent.

AIB bank officials were left red-faced when confidential bank documents were found when diggers excavated them at a former dump in Cork. This was the same site that hospital patients’ medical records from Cork Regional Hospital were found at an earlier date. Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen was being sensible when he suggested these matters be handled by the police and not the institutions involved.

In another calamity, a laptop containing the records and personal data of more than 170,000 Irish blood donors was snatched in New York of all places. A blood bank worker in the Big Apple who was contracted to upgrade software for the files had the laptop robbed from him outside his home. With examples like this it’s no wonder that people are wary about handing out personal details so easily.

The internet is fast becoming the easiest way for criminals to gain access and take advantage of a person’s private information. Credit card fraud has become a really lucrative business for criminal hackers, luring innocent victims to visit bogus websites and give their card details thus enabling the fraudsters to spend on the card.

Even if you are not that easily roped in, internet crooks can send out Trojan horse viruses that once downloaded onto your desktop will gather vital information such as your Visa or Mastercard number. The only good news in this kind of criminal activity is that most credit card companies will cover you for the majority of the illegal spending done on your card. Usually a fee of around €50 or €60 will be the most a person will pay and the rest will be insured.

So what to do if you feel your precious data is not secure? For computer use the general answer is to just use your common sense and don’t follow links to advertisements. Many of these can be phishing scams which basically are false links to websites that will do their best to get you to part with your hard earned euros. Be careful when using your plastic on the net by only using well-established websites like E-Bay or Amazon. These sites pay a lot more money for security than any of the smaller companies in cyberspace. Use a good anti-virus that will deter Trojans or spam from infiltrating your computer.

We certainly have a responsibility to ourselves to be less reckless when it comes to our own personal information. As well as our PC’s and laptops, people need to be careful with other gadgets that hold private info. Cellular phones are the prime example. It is easy to be careless with your mobile when out on the town having a few jars but it must be remembered that yours as well as your friends' and family’s personal data are on there too. With technology advancing at a rapid rate people are storing larger amounts of information on their phones so the loss can be quite painful.

With regard to medical or financial files, you’ll still have to put your trust in the hospitals and banks that have them and hope that they treat your vital statistics with the care and attention they obviously deserve.