The Data Protection Act was brought in in 2018, and it controls and monitors the way that UK businesses and organizations use your personal data and information, such as credit, payment card, financial information, social security numbers, and any sensitive data. Under the act, it is up to everyone to ensure that they use data wisely and adhere to the data protection principles that are laid down in the act, which are.

Historically, one difference between a company victimized by ransomware and those hit with a hacking intrusion that resulted in stolen data was that in a ransomware attack, the data wasn’t actually stolen, but was encrypted so that the victim would have to pay a ransom to regain access. Unlike traditional data thefts, ransomware—the theory went—didn’t really steal data. It encrypted it so that the authorized users couldn’t get to it unless a ransom was paid.