What is a Data Breach?

“A data breach is a consequential cybersecurity attack or incident that may bring substantial impacts and losses to organizational and individual victims.”  Wang, 2019

In today’s digital landscape, businesses of all sizes face an ever-growing threat to their data security. The rise in sophisticated cyber-attacks means that no organisation is immune. From small enterprises to global corporations, data security is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity.

The 2023 23andMe breach was a stark reminder of this reality. It exposed deeply personal genetic data, sending shockwaves through the tech and privacy sectors. It demonstrated that even the most sensitive information is vulnerable, and that customer trust once broken can be incredibly difficult to rebuild.

For industries where trust is paramount such as healthcare, finance, and legal services, proactive cybersecurity measures are no longer optional. Companies must invest in robust data protection strategies, including encryption, access controls, employee training, regular audits and safe disposal of redundant technology. These measures are essential not only to protect organisational assets but also to safeguard customer information and maintain public confidence.

To understand why these measures matter so much, it helps to look at the different ways breaches impact organisations and society. As noted by Agrafiotis et al. (2018), Anderson et al. (2012), and Sidaway (2016), there is no universal framework for measuring the full impact (of Data Breaches). The costs are not limited to spreadsheets, they ripple through operations, infrastructure, and even people’s wellbeing. While it can be difficult to quantify the damage, breaches typically materialise in the following ways:

Monetary and Economic Losses: How much does a data breach cost UK company?

These losses can include regulatory fines, legal fees, and significant revenue loss. A prominent example of the latter is the ransomware attack on Marks & Spencer in April 2025. The attack crippled their online operations and disrupted in-store services, leaving shelves bare in the days that followed. Beyond the operational chaos, customer data was compromised. M&S confirmed that personal information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and online order history may have been stolen.

The financial impact was staggering. M&S estimated a £300 million reduction in profits for the year, which was even more than analysts had anticipated and equivalent to a 30% hit. Considering that online sales account for roughly a third of M&S’s clothing and home revenue, with an average of £3.8 million spent daily via their website and apps, the breach had far-reaching implications. While financial repercussions are often the first to be calculated, they are far from the only consequence. In fact, some of the most severe breaches demonstrate that digital incidents can spill over into the physical world.

Physical Harm: Real world consequences of cybersecurity failures

Breaches don’t just threaten data – they can endanger lives, disrupt economies, and destabilise entire regions. This is especially true in sectors like energy, transportation, and healthcare, where digital systems are deeply embedded in physical operations. A successful cyberattack in these domains can compromise infrastructure, disable safety mechanisms, and trigger cascading failures across essential service.

A stark example of this convergence between digital threats and physical consequences occurred in May 2021, when Colonial Pipeline, a major U.S. fuel pipeline operator, fell victim to a ransomware attack. Financially motivated cybercriminals infiltrated the company’s systems and encrypted critical data, including IoT sensors used to monitor fuel flow and billing. Without visibility into how much fuel was being delivered, Colonial made the drastic decision to shut down all 5,500 miles of pipeline.

The impact was immediate and far-reaching. The pipeline supplies approximately 45% of the East Coast’s fuel, including diesel, petrol, and jet fuel. The shutdown led to fuel shortages, panic buying, and price spikes across multiple states. This incident underscored how a digital breach can ripple through the physical world, affecting millions of people and businesses. This blurring of digital and physical risks is especially concerning in industries that keep societies running. Energy, transport, and healthcare are prime examples where cyberattacks don’t just lock up systems, they disrupt daily life.

The energy sector is particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks due to its reliance on industrial control systems (ICS) and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) networks. A compromised power grid doesn’t just mean lights out it can mean stolen or diverted energy, damaged infrastructure, and mass-scale outages that paralyze cities and economies.

One of the most chilling examples is the cyberattacks on Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016. In these coordinated assaults, Russian-backed hackers infiltrated the country’s electricity distribution systems, remotely switching off substations and leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power. These attacks were not only disruptive but also served as a geopolitical warning about the weaponisation of cyber capabilities.

As digital transformation accelerates across critical infrastructure sectors, the areas of potential attack expand. From smart meters and connected medical devices to automated rail systems and AI-driven logistics, every new conversion from analogue to digital becomes a potential vulnerability. A breach in one system can quickly escalate, affecting supply chains, public safety, and national security.

These cyberattack issues continue to persist and only recently two teenagers were charged in connection with a cyber-attack on Transport for London (TfL) which cost millions of pounds.

To mitigate these risks, organisations must adopt a holistic cybersecurity strategy that includes:

 

• Real-time monitoring of operational technology (OT) networks
• Segmentation between IT and OT environments
• Regular threat modelling and penetration testing
• Incident response planning tailored to physical infrastructure
• Collaboration with government agencies and industry peers

 

Yet, even when physical systems are secured, another layer of damage often emerges. Data breaches don’t just attack infrastructure; they also impact people on a deeply personal level.

Psychological Harm

Victims of data breaches often experience stress, anxiety, and reputational damage. For businesses, the internal fallout can affect employee morale and customer relationships alike, but the effects aren’t limited to businesses employees, deep personal information can be leaked on civilians.

In August of 2024, personal data from Afghanistan civilians who were brought to the UK under the Ministry of Defences resettlement scheme for those who worked with British Troops was breached.

The breach came after Inflite The Jet Centre Ltd, a sub-contractor to an MoD (Ministry of Defence) supplier, which provides ground handling services for flights at London Stansted Airport, suffered a data loss. The incident affected contracts between the MoD, Inflite The Jet Centre, and the Cabinet Office.

This was followed up by another catastrophic data loss, which exposed the details of a further 18,700 Afghanistan applicants to a UK resettlement scheme. This breach prompted a secret evacuation scheme and the use of an unprecedented super injunction (A super injunction is a legal order that prevents the press or individuals from reporting on the existence of the injunction itself, as well as on the details of the case it pertains to) to keep the details secret for nearly two years. These examples illustrate how the costs of a data breach can go beyond technology and finance and inflict psychological harm. But there are still other, less visible consequences that quietly erode organisations long after the headlines fade.

Indirect and Hidden Costs of a Data Breach

These include long-term brand damage, customer attrition, and increased insurance premiums. Recovery efforts, including PR campaigns and customer compensation, can also be costly and time-consuming.

These multifaceted consequences make it essential for organisations to adopt a holistic approach to cybersecurity one that goes beyond mere compliance and focuses on resilience, prevention, and recovery. While malicious attacks grab attention, negligence and poor data disposal practices can be just as damaging and are often preventable with the right approach.

At Mazuma Business, we take this responsibility seriously. We are fully compliant with GDPR and WEEE regulations, ensuring that all data is securely erased before devices are recycled or resold. While this doesn’t prevent online attacks, it does offer a security guarantee that includes:

 

• Secure courier collection of your devices, with safe delivery to our warehouse.
• Automatic data erasure across all devices using industry-leading Blancco, Blackbelt and Phonecheck software, restoring devices to factory settings.
• Trained Mazuma technicians handle and assess the value of each device individually.
• Data erasure certificates available upon request for specific devices.
• SSL Secure Registration for added protection during the process.
• A unique 96-point check system that ensures no data leaves our warehouse.

 

If you’re looking to dispose of old business technology, choose Mazuma Business. Our secure and reliable process removes the chances of data breaches once it’s in our hands. Call us today on 01524 481 340 or fill in our contact form here: Contact – Mazuma Business.

 

References:

Wang, P., D’Cruze, H. and Wood, D. (2019a). Economic Costs and Impacts of Business Data Breaches. Issues In Information Systems, 20(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.48009/2_iis_2019_162-171.

Agrafiotis, I., Nurse, J.R.C., Goldsmith, M., Creese, S., & Upton, D. (2018). A taxonomy of cyber-harms: Defining the impacts of cyber-attacks and understanding how they propagate. Journal of Cybersecurity, 4(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyy006

Department for Science, I. and T. (2025) Cyber security breaches survey 2025, GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cyber-security-breaches-survey-2025 (Accessed: 19 September 2025).

McMahon, S.M.& L. (2025) M&S Cyber Attack: What we know about it and its impact, BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0el31nqnpvo (Accessed: 19 September 2025).

Tidy, J. (2025) Children hacking their own schools for ‘fun’, Watchdog warns, BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c203pedz58go (Accessed: 19 September 2025).

Top utilities cyberattacks of 2025 and their impact (2025) Asimily. Available at: https://asimily.com/blog/top-utilities-cyberattacks-of-2025/#:~:text=In%20May%202021%2C%20financially%20motivated,almost%20completely%20resume%20regular%20operations. (Accessed: 19 September 2025).

Super Injunctions – legal foundations (2024) Legal Foundations –. Available at: https://legalfoundations.org.uk/guide/super-injunctions/ (Accessed: 19 September 2025).