UKTV exec sacked for Ofcom data breach
March 17, 2016
UKTV has sacked an executive who offered to provide a huge cache of data taken from their former employer Ofcom, reports The Guardian.
The communications regulator has written to UK broadcasters to reassure them that the data, including sensitive financial information, has been recovered.
The Ofcom employee, working on a short-term contract, had downloaded as much as six years of data provided by TV broadcasters to the regulator. UKTV executives immediately reported the employee to Ofcom.
In the letter to broadcasters, Ofcom director of market development James Thickett said: “Your data has not been used; the data has been removed from UKTV’s systems and records, and is no longer in the company’s possession. In relation to the individual involved, we have received assurances and evidence from him to show that he no longer retains any copies of the material in question and it was not shared with any other third party since leaving Ofcom. We are satisfied with those assurances and evidence. UKTV has informed us that it has dismissed the individual in light of these actions.”