As an update on a story reported here, BBC is now reporting that the computers stolen from the Department of Finance and Personnel in Belfast contained personal financial details: An email informed them that the computers contained information such as national insurance numbers and bank account details. It read: “Two of the laptops contained a…
Category: Non-U.S.
UK: Sensitive information sent to wrong address
Liam Sloan of Newbury Today reports: A [West Berkshire Council] blunder led to intimate details of vulnerable youngsters being posted to the wrong person. Worlds End resident Alayne Summers was shocked to receive a torn, wrongly-addressed envelope containing 100 pages of highly-sensitive information about troubled pupils applying for places at West Berkshire schools. The documents…
AU: Westpac ‘stuff-up’ puts confidential customer details online
Mark Hawthorne of The Brisbane Times reports: A security breach has allowed confidential Westpac shareholder information to be included in an official document published on the Australian Securities Exchange website. A document Westpac released to the ASX in March contains the security holder reference numbers (SRN) and holder identification numbers (HIN) of up to 20…
UK: ID database snooped for celebrities’ secrets
Mark Ballard of The Inquirer reports that one Glasgow City Council worker was fired and another resigned before he could be fired after they were caught snooping into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Customer Information Systems (CIS) database. The database forms the core of the government’s identity card scheme and contains 85 million…
NZ: Police investigate alleged leak from DNA database
Police are investigating a claim an Environmental Science and Research worker has made an “inappropriate disclosure” from the national DNA profile databank. ESR said today a criminal investigation had started. “A staff member has been suspended pending the outcome of the police and internal investigations,” a spokeswoman said. The alleged security breach was the first…
Government laptops stolen in Belfast
UTV News reports: An urgent investigation has been launched into what material was taken from the corporate human resources offices over the weekend. All the machines were password-protected, marked and serial numbers recorded. Detectives have been called in. A spokesman for the Department of Finance and Personnel said: “In view of the nature of corporate…