Organisations fail to sufficiently protect data

MANY large state and private organisations are still not taking adequate measures to protect highly sensitive, personal information from falling into the wrong hands, according to the Data Protection Commissioner.

A total of 199 cases of data security breaches were notified to the commissioner in 2009 – a 47% increase on the previous year – with many incidents relating to the theft or loss of computers and other IT equipment.

They included high-profile cases involving Bord Gáis and the HSE arising from stolen laptop computers which contained large amounts of personal data.