Data breach hits Royal Dutch Shell

2010-02-18

Royal Dutch Shell has been hit by a data breach which ended up in contact details of around 170,000 workers being sent out to activists opposed to the group.

The company has announced that it is carrying out its own investigation into the data breach, although it played down the security ramifications.

A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has now told IT Pro that Shell has notified the body of the IT intrusion.

"We are looking into how this data breach occurred and will decide what, if any regulatory action, is required," the spokesperson told the website.

There are some reports suggesting that ex-employees could have been involved in the data loss.

The ICO recently revealed that more than 800 data security breaches were reported to the body in just over two years.

Later this year, the ICO is expected to receive new powers allowing it to order organisations to pay up to £500,000 as a penalty for serious breaches of the Data Protection Act.

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