There were over 2300 data breach incidents reported by just 22 of the UK’s law enforcement organizations in 2020 alone, according to an inquiry launched by VPNoverview. VPNoverview allegedly requested information from 45 of the UK’s police forces and received responses from 31. The results of the investigation revealed that there was a national average of 299 breaches per police station from 2016 to Q1 of 2021. The cause for breach included human error and malicious attacks, according to VPNoverview.
There was no information in the report that clarified whether the majority of the cases were due to human error or malicious actors, however, in 2019 237 UK officers and staff members were disciplined due to cyber mishaps, six resigned during investigations, and 11 were fired for computer misuse offenses. The shocking number of data breaches was broken down by location, with Lancashire Constabulary suffering the most with 1300 breaches alone.
Read More: UK Police Suffered Thousands of Data Breaches in 2020
