Sunday, September 21, 2008

Britain - Here We Go Again!

Another British data blunder: Stolen bankruptcy agency laptop had personal info.

LONDON (AP) _ The British government has admitted another data loss blunder: Its bankruptcy agency has lost a laptop carrying personal information on more than 100 former company directors.
The Insolvency Service says four laptop computers were stolen from its office in the northern English city of Manchester. It says one of them carried documents that "may give cause for concern."
The service said Wednesday that information on 122 former company directors was lost in the theft, as well as information on an unknown number of creditors, investors and employees.
Britain's government has been humbled by a series of data losses even as it attempts to roll out an ambitious national identification card. Medical, prison, and military records have been stolen or disappeared in recent months.

When will this nightmare end? One problem is that NO ONE is ever punished for putting people at risk. It's always "Oh, it was an oversight. No one is at fault."

If a bus driver in London injured or killed you because of sheer negligence they'd be prosecuted.

If bureaucrats knew they would be fined and do jail time they might remember ton keep their laptops and other sensitive data secure! IT misuse is just as dangerous as other negligence.


Here is the full miserable record of the British government.

Home Office has lost 43 laptops and 94 mobiles in three years
The Home Office has admitted losing 43 laptop computers and 94 mobile phones over the past three years, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

By Christopher Hope, Home Affairs Editor
Last Updated: 11:39PM BST 24 Aug 2008

The news comes days after the department lost a memory stick containing the details of all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales.

It has emerged that officials lost more than 300,000 people's details a month in the year to April.

That came on top of the loss of two CDs containing the entire child benefit database – containing the details of 25 million families – last November. The discs have still not been found.
Home Office data released in response to a question by the Tory peer Lord Hanningfield show that 43 laptops and 94 mobile phones have been lost or stolen at the department over the past three years – 15 laptops and 47 mobiles in 2007; 14 laptops and 10 mobiles in 2006; and 14 laptops and 37 mobiles in 2005.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence said that almost 600 laptop computers had been stolen in the past decade.
That admission came after Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, had to make a statement to the Commons about the theft of a laptop containing the personal details of 600,000 people from a car in Birmingham.

A Home Office spokesman refused to say what was on the 43 laptops, but added: "We do not believe that any of the lost laptops contained sensitive or classified information."

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1 Comments:

At 7:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Insolvency case is something that should worry everyone -- if this can happen across the pond, why shouldn't it happen here in the States? Just because we're no longer under the monarchy doesn't make us any less susceptible. Check out another blog on the situation and let me know what you think: http://blog.mylaptopgps.com/2008/09/21/how-to-solve-the-insolvency-case/

 

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