Cybersecurity breaches have become a huge threat in recent years.
560,000 new malware is detected every day and
18 cyberattacks happen every minute. It has come to the point where cybercrimes cause real-life damages, sometimes threatening the lives of real people.
That is why numerous countries take action regarding cybersecurity: create offices and administrations and educate citizens and businesses about it. Naturally, there are also laws and guidelines on the matter. Since GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe emerged, companies became more aware of their weaknesses and the importance of fixing them: no one wants to face a huge fine and bad reputation.
Even though the United Kingdom is not a part of the EU anymore, they still have GDPR, but with very slight differences. The UK's Information Commissioner's Office is the one enforcing the guidelines, investigating the breaches, and issuing the fines. As of 2020/21, the Office issued
£42 million in fines already.
We have found the top-10 ICO fines in the UK to discover and learn from.