14 DAY TRIAL // While away on a holiday in 2009, Ruth Crawford QC's (Queen's Council) house was broken into and her laptop that contained information on eight of the cases she was working on was stolen.
She only reported the breach to the ICO in August 2011 since that's when the cases that could have been affected by the information loss were concluded.
According to the statement released by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the laptop was only protected by physical security measures at the time of the incident, but all the data stored on the device remained unencrypted.
“The legal profession holds some of the most sensitive information available. It is therefore vital that adequate security measures are in place to keep information secure,” said Ken Macdonald, Assistant Commissioner for Scotland.
He warns that in this case there will be no financial penalty since the incident took place before April 2010, but in other cases, individuals who fail to secure the information of others can be fined with up to £500,000 ($785,000 or 550,000 EUR).