2.6 Data at Risk

Data at Risk – When you pass your personal information over to companies, particularly over the internet, you are placing high amounts of trust into that company, especially due to the amount of risk they are at, giving them bank details, names and addresses. One of the highest growing crimes worldwide is identity theft, where someone wrongfully obtains personal information for the purpose of fraud. If someone is able to obtain your credit card details, with the correct name, then they may be in the position to make transactions in your name. This has been the case with many people who have been placed in debt because someone has used their details to run up a high bill, and have not been asked other security questions, such as address and so forth. Data is transferred through many systems when it leaves the main consumer’s computer to the data computer, therefore many points at which the data can be intercepted. Most computer users are actually aware of the risk of placing data on internet websites, especially against hackers. The Data Protection Act makes the organisation in charge of a transactional website responsible for protecting personal data against these attacks. Similar information is held on home computers connected to the internet, by users, however the system is protected less than major business databases and under the same level of threat.

Hacking and Hackers – A transactional website is known to be vulnerable to ‘hackers’, someone who breaks into a computer to steal, change or destroy data. Unauthorised access to data held by a transactional website could have significant consequences for the organisation. As well as breaching the terms of the Data Protection Act, the organisation could suffer serious problems even if the unauthorised access was not meant to be fraudulent.
  The Computer Misuse Act (1990) was passed in order to deal with the growing number of computer hackers, unlawful information access and misuse in general. To begin with, hacking wasn’t taken as seriously, seen as more mischievous rather than malicious.