Worst Personal Data Leak in UK History

Worst Personal Data Leak in UK History.

It has been widely reported and alleged that a security leak at Barclays Bank has resulted in confidential financial planning information for up to 27,000 client files.

The sting was raised by an anonymous whistle-blower to a newspaper journalist with a sample of 2000 client data files, which could allegedly fetch £50 per client file.

The client personal information is alleged to be from the now defunct financial advice, Personal Finance Division of Barclays.  It is speculated that this breach could be at risk of being the largest leak in UK history by a bank.

Comment

Whether true or not, data security is paramount to all financial service companies and no doubt the Financial Conduct Authority will be investigating.

No system is infallible but we take the greatest care that we can with client data:

1. All staff are police reference checked before recruitment
2. All data is controlled by a complex security system that we not simply work if an attempt is made to export data and only our owner directors can export the same for encrypted back up purposes only.

Larger companies no doubt have a greater risk of security breach given the number of staff and clients, but likewise given the volume of profit and responsibility to protect client data, all banking groups and insurers should regularly review and update their security procedures.