Information Commissioner Christopher Graham has revealed that the first companies to fall foul of new data protection enforcement powers will be revealed later this month.

Jobs could be created for IT contractors as companies look to tighten their data security practices following Mr Graham's announcement.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) now has the option to fine firms up to £500,000 for a serious breach of the Data Protection Act, powers which Mr Graham says "give the ICO the teeth that many people in the past said it lacked".

Speaking to the Kable Information Security event, Mr Graham revealed that the NHS was responsible for the largest number of data losses - 30 per cent of the reported total.

However, he added that "far too much" information was being disclosed in error by local government.

The ICO recently chose not to fine Google, despite the internet giant admitting to inadvertently downloading emails, passwords and other payload data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks across the country.