Three men, including a Football League referee and FA referee development manager, are accused of hacking into a fellow referee's email account and stealing confidential data. If failings in the FA's data security are found, it could embarrass the organization. Proper data encryption and security practices are important for organizations to protect themselves from data breaches and resulting fines, as was shown by a £80,000 fine against a council for losing a memory stick with unencrypted sensitive information.

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Data Security Breach May Embarrass FA
The Football Association (FA) already has plenty of critics, but it may
be set for more if it is found to have come up short over data
security.
If such failings have occurred, they may come to light in the trial of
three men accused of hacking at the body.

2. The trio include referee Dean Mohareb from Stockport, who has been
charged with unauthorised access to computer data as well as another
charge of perverting the course of justice. Two other men also face
perverting the course of justice charges.
Mr Mohareb is a Football League referee and the FA's national referee
development manager, which means he is likely to be in a position to
access substantial quantities of data concerning fellow match officials.

3. He was arrested in October last year over allegations that he hacked
into a fellow referee's email account and stole confidential data.
While more details of the case will emerge during the court case –
which begins on December 5th – the incident may raise the issue of
how much protection security staff at an organisation may have if a
rogue colleague is keen to spy on them.

4. Much may depend on the nature of an email account, of course. If data
is held on an internal system, that is a direct concern for the company,
whereas if it is a private account it will be the internet service provider's
security systems that are called into question.
Data encryption is one way that a company can take steps to ensure
data is kept as safe as possible, with this providing a second line of
defence in case the password is discovered.
Company data should certainly be encrypted, as organisations can get
into trouble if certain kinds of data are compromised.

5. For example, last month the Information Commissioner's Office fined
North East Lincolnshire Council £80,000 over an incident in which a
memory stick containing unencrypted data about children with special
needs went missing.
Storetec News/Blogs."http://www.storetec.net/news-blog/datasecurity-breach-may-embarrass-fa/". Data security breach may
embarrass FA. November 29, 2013. Storetec.

6. For example, last month the Information Commissioner's Office fined
North East Lincolnshire Council £80,000 over an incident in which a
memory stick containing unencrypted data about children with special
needs went missing.
Storetec News/Blogs."http://www.storetec.net/news-blog/datasecurity-breach-may-embarrass-fa/". Data security breach may
embarrass FA. November 29, 2013. Storetec.