The Epic Fail of the UK Voter Register Hack

How 40 Million Records Were Up for Grabs

Imagine leaving your front door wide open, then wondering how burglars managed to take everything. That’s pretty much what happened with the U.K. Electoral Commission, who got hit with a cyberattack that exposed voter records of 40 million people. And guess what? It was completely avoidable.

A Gentle Scolding for a Massive Blunder

Instead of facing the wrath of a hefty fine, the Electoral Commission got a polite finger-wagging from the ICO. You’d think letting 40 million people’s data hang out there might deserve more than a stern talking-to, right? Not this time.

The ICO decided to go with a “revised approach” to handling breaches by public bodies, meaning no big fines unless there’s “demonstrable harm.” So, even though they admitted the Commission could’ve done better, they decided it wasn’t worth emptying their wallets. Talk about getting off easy!

The ICO’s report basically reads like a how-not-to guide for data protection. The Electoral Commission managed to ignore basic security steps like patching their systems and using strong passwords. They might as well have used “123456” as their password!!!!