Incident reporting

A process for reporting incidents is maintained to help staff report incidents efficiently and consistently.

Things to report as an incident include e.g.:

• unauthorized access to data / premises
• action against security guidelines
• suspected security issue (e.g. phishing, malware infection)
• data system outage
• accidental or intentional destruction / alteration of data
• lost or stolen device
• compromised password
• lost physical identifier (e.g. keychain, smart card, smart sticker)
• suspected security weakness (e.g. on utilized data system or other procedures)

The personnel guidelines emphasize the obligation to report security incidents as soon as possible in accordance with the agreed process. The instructions also describe other operations in the event of an incident (e.g. recording seen error messages and other details).

A personal data breach must be reported to the supervisory authority if the breach may pose a risk to data subjects rights and freedoms. Data subjects, on the other hand, must be informed if the breach is likely to pose a high risk to their rights and freedoms. For example, registrants may take steps to reduce the adverse effect (e.g. by closing their credit card).

The notification must include the following information:

• a clear description of the personal data breach
• the name and contact details of the data protection officer or other contact point from which further information can be obtained
• the likely consequences of the personal data breach
• the measures proposed or already taken by the controller; where appropriate, measures to mitigate possible adverse effects.