Industry experts contend that the £500,000 fine that the UK's Information Commissioner's Office can impose for data breaches is too low to motivate companies to protect sensitive information.

"Tony Dyhouse, director of the Digital Systems Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) said 65% of delegates at a recent KTN meeting believed that the £500,000 penalty was inadequate," writes Computer Weekly's Ian Grant.

"'Many lawyers at the meeting said their clients could write off the £500,000 as a cost of business. A small to medium company would probably not even be fined as heavily because of the need for proportionality,' he said," Grant writes.

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