Hundreds of people have been placed at risk of identity theft after a laptop computer containing personal and financial details was stolen from a boot of a car belonging to an employee of HM Customs and Revenue, The Manchester Evening News revealed last week. The organisation has admitted the loss and is investigating the incident. The computer contained sensitive financial details of at least 400 people which had been passed to the HMRC by several financial institutions as part of an audit.Companies that suffer negligent data loss - as theft of a laptop from a car boot will undoubtedly turn out to be if based on recent UK legal precedent - may not only face severe fines (earlier this year a UK bank was fined nearly £1 million after an employee’s laptop was stolen from home) but also face the prospect of being publicly named and shamed on the “watchdog” website:
http://attrition.org/dataloss/
Meanwhile, a group of British Members of Parliament is calling for the Government to appoint an “identity fraud tsar” to counter this growing problem.
The new Security Management Stage 1 handout IT Security offers a list of 25 security recommendations for laptops, as well as a host of other suggestions for better security of data. The handout is available to all past delegates of Security Management Stage 1 or the Information and IT Security Workshop, free of charge, on request.
