News BriefsParasram warns of possible GDPR fines after assessing TSTT data dump

Parasram warns of possible GDPR fines after assessing TSTT data dump

Above: Shiva Parasram.

Shiva Parasram is a cybersecurity expert who has been examining the dump of data exfiltrated from TSTT’s servers. When he spoke with me, he was coming to the end of 22 hours of examining the files, which were captured as unencrypted, plain text files in txt and csv formats. Images of customer documents and identification are in standard JPEG and PDF formats.

“I was talking to one of my friends who works at a pretty high position in the Big Four ( Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC) about the implications with data privacy and the GDPR. If they have customer information (for anyone in the) EU at the moment or (someone) who falls under the EU GDPR, when the EU gets wind of this and they do their own investigations and analyse it, there could be fines for this. And those fines are nothing minimal”

Parasram wonders if TSTT still has the staff capabilities to mount a forensic analysis of what was taken. He’s been informed that after recent layoffs, TSTT may be operating with a skeleton staff for cybersecurity.

“We are trying to figure out if TSTT was actually aware of the full extent of the dump, if they actually took the dump to analyse it. One of my guys tried to open one of the Excel files. The file is so large that even with 64 gigs of RAM, it was taking forever.”

Parasram is a long way from reviewing all the data in the dump, but notes. I have seen information for many people that I know, accurate information, you know the the photos with IDs and stuff like that. Whether people pay with cash or Linx. But that’s from the client-side database.”

“But even on the company side, there’s a lot of internal stuff. There’s a password file called SYS_password.xls for example (with) names of systems and what appear to be passwords. It’s a lot of information. Everybody is exhausted, and we are probably just scratching the surface. It’s a big nightmare because honestly, if they were part of the EU, this could be billions of dollars in fines

Shiva Parasram

Shiva Parasram, is an Enterprise Risk Consultant, Senior Cybersecurity Lecturer and Forensic Investigator. He has written four books about digital forensics and leads the Computer Forensics and Security Institute.

 

 

 

Related Posts

Hands on: BOSGAME VTA-439

Hands on: BOSGAME VTA-439

I chose Ubuntu to demonstrate that an enterprise Linux distribution works well on the system.
Read More
The silent, growing danger of ransomware

The silent, growing danger of ransomware

Victims of ransomware continued to carry critical patch vulnerabilities even after being attacked.
Read More
How should a newsroom of the (very near) future work?

How should a newsroom of the (very near) future work?

When generic content becomes easier to produce, the advantage that we have shifts to what is harder to replicate and that is original journalism.
Read More
FNP’s halting stumble to dubious relevance

FNP’s halting stumble to dubious relevance

There are 282,000 fixed line subscribers in Trinidad and Tobago. That number has been dropping incrementally year over year declining 16.1 percent between 2024 and 2025.
Read More
Samsung: AI will help make life easier

Samsung: AI will help make life easier

"As AI becomes more personal, protecting personal data becomes even more important." - Jay Kim
Read More
The Global Lense – The one about data centers

The Global Lense – The one about data centers

Digital Transformation is not just about meeting a funding checklist, it’s about producing value for cost.
Read More
TSTT records $214m profit, highest in 17 years

TSTT records $214m profit, highest in 17 years

The years ahead will shift toward investing for transformation and sustainable value creation.
Read More
Samsung’s big bet on AI

Samsung’s big bet on AI

"Gemini can now use advanced reasoning to understand your screen context, parse complex images as prompts, and execute multi-step actions across apps.”
Read More
The data centre dilemma

The data centre dilemma

Discourse, instead of a patronising pat on the head asking whether you have a doctorate, should govern communication between a government and the people who elected them.
Read More
Social permission and the data center

Social permission and the data center

Generating equipment would have to be designed for the sea-salt laden air found even inland on an island.
Read More
Hands on: BOSGAME VTA-439 Hands on: BOSGAME VTA-439
The silent, growing danger of ransomware The silent, growing danger of ransomware
How should a newsroom of the (very near) future work? How should a newsroom of the...
FNP’s halting stumble to dubious relevance FNP’s halting stumble to dubious relevance
Samsung: AI will help make life easier Samsung: AI will help make life...
The Global Lense – The one about data centers The Global Lense – The one...
TSTT records $214m profit, highest in 17 years TSTT records $214m profit, highest in...
Samsung’s big bet on AI Samsung’s big bet on AI
The data centre dilemma The data centre dilemma
Social permission and the data center Social permission and the data center

🤞 Get connected!

A once weekly email notification of new stories on TechNewsTT. Just that. No spam.

Possible UI Glitch. Click top right corner to dismiss 👉

Get Connected!

A once weekly email notification of new stories on TechNewsTT.

Just that. No spam.

1 COMMENT

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
trackback
2 years ago

[…] Trinidad and Tobago – Shiva Parasram is a cybersecurity expert who has been examining the dump of data exfiltrated from TSTT’s servers. When he spoke with me, he was coming to the end of 22 hours of examining the files, which were captured as unencrypted, plain text files in txt and csv formats. Images of customer documents and identification are in standard JPEG and PDF formats… more […]

RELATED POSTS