Photo: WUR A data leak is often caused inadvertently. What happened to Jana Verboom, for example, who shared her entire OneDrive with her students by mistake.
The drive contained selfies, personal notes, lists of grades and thesis assessments. After she reported the breach, a privacy officer’s investigation revealed that, fortunately, none of the files had been opened and copied. How did this happen? It is likely that Verbooms computer mouse failed while she was uploading a file, causing her to share the entire archive by mistake.
Hacking
With examples such as these, WUR privacy officers call attention to privacy and cybersecurity on European Privacy Day. Sometimes, the threat comes from savvy cybercriminals attempting to hack into WUR systems through emails.
Still, simple actions are often enough to prevent data leaks. For example, do not leave your phone or laptop unattended and unlocked, because this could cause a breach. And mind how you share files with others while working from home.
The video Data Dangers explains how students and employees can better protect their data. Employees who have questions can join the walk-in consultations for their science group.
