Matthew Wyard issues urgent advice to businesses facing ransomware attacks / cyber attacks

25th August 2021

3PB Barristers’ specialist regulatory law barrister Matthew Wyard is writing a series of articles on all things data protection and cyber law related as part of 3PB’s new “Cyber Law Series”. The first article, which was published today, addresses the risk of a ransomware attack and considers the practical steps that businesses and public bodies urgently need to take in order to pre-empt such an event and what to do if disaster strikes.

Matthew’s article tracks the 17th annual joint report prepared by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, ‘Cost of a Data Breach Report 2021’, which found that the average costs of a data breach has increased to $4.24million US dollars and was far higher where remote working was a factor in causing the breach.

Click here to read the full article on ransomware attacks – a practical guide to survival.

For many UK businesses and public bodies, the more immediate risk is claims arising out of breaches of the UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018. Such claims will be explored in detail in the second instalment of 3PB’s Cyber Series – Data Protection claims: a guide for defendants which will be published in September.

Matthew Wyard’s regulatory practice focuses on the regulation of data and information and the right to privacy over the same. He regularly undertakes both contentious and non-contentious work in this practice area for a variety of clients including Central Government departments, non-departmental public bodies, higher education institutions, companies and individuals.

To discuss this article with Matthew or to instruct him on a data protection issue, please email him on [email protected] or contact his clerk Sam Collins on [email protected] or call Sam on 0121 289 4333.