Global cyber breaches hit various sectors
Cybersecurity breaches are a risk no matter what the industry, or where you are located. Just last week, the UK soccer/football team Manchester United revealed an intrusion that compromised its systems. Although their investigation has not yet confirmed whether hackers could access the data of fans and customers, they were quick to assure that their website and apps remained safe.
Sports teams and affiliated entities are especially tempting targets to hackers, with their wealth of data about all the personnel involved in the operation, from athletes to officials, front office to fans. If hackers can pull off a successful breach, they can gain access to scores of information. This is especially the case these days, when sports organizations integrate all kinds of data measuring and processing tools in search of the best advantage over the competition. No wonder Manchester United is hardly unique, even in the UK, as the National Cyber Security Centre has reported of other teams targeted by phishing, ransomware and other types of scams. In one case, there was even a risk, quickly prevented, of fans being unable to enter the stadium. I mean, back when any fans could still enter stadiums.
More controversy currently surrounds the data security of Ghana’s election process, after the country’s Electoral Commission saw fit to publish heaps of voter information online, including ages, photos and voter ID numbers. Whether due to ineptitude or ill-intent, the move can only appear as highly irresponsible. No matter the nation, the privacy of people’s data in the voting process must never be carelessly handled, or breached in such a shocking manner. Ghanaian human rights lawyer Chris-Vincent Agyapong posted his objection on Facebook, saying “It baffles me that the EC of Ghana would publish the names, age and sex of the entire voting population in this careless manner, in a way that breaches every sensible data protection laws and open a floodgate of future abuse of data.”
It is just this type of mindset that the EC displayed that puts everyone involved at risk, eroding protections of a valuable asset, and a valuable process. Like Agyapong highlights, there was no absence of protection here in the legal sense, so to flaunt the existing data protection laws is a special kind of outrageous.
Regardless of where you are, it just goes to show how your personal information can be put at risk in the blink of an eye, or I guess the click of a mouse.