UK Data Protection Minister kept in the dark

**Glaswegian** · 11-27-2007, 02:52 PM

The UK government's data protection minister did not know about the huge data breach at HM Revenue and Customs until he heard the chancellor's statement in the Commons on November 20, he has admitted.

Chancellor Alistair Darling said he had been told of the data breach - in which CDs containing the details of 25 million people were lost in transit between HMRC and the National Audit Office - on 10 November.

http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...S&NewsID=10771

**Cellus** · 11-28-2007, 06:44 PM

People really need to start encrypting removable media, especially the government. Why do I have this strange feeling that those CDs were not encrypted?

**Glaswegian** · 11-29-2007, 06:08 AM

You're correct - they were not encrypted. But it's OK, they were password protected...

MoralTerror · 11-30-2007, 10:58 AM

Hmmm any building I've been in has measures in place to prevent the use of the CD Writer or sometimes even access to the CD Drive unless you have appropriate permissions. How can the Chancellor blame an office junior? Are HMRC buildings privvy to simple security? Even if the junior didn't write the CD then the Civil Servant who did should be responsible for making sure the disks were encrypted and sent securely.

Incidently I got my letter of apology this afternoon. It reads:

".......A copy of some HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) data about families, including yours, who have received Chid Benefit has been lost. The copy of data is likely to still be on Government property."

Hmmm can't they make their minds up? They report that it was sent by courier to the Audit office and not received, yet they're telling the people affected that it's probably still in the building.

Plain and simple they breached the Data Protection Act and 25 million of us should get together and sue.

11-27-2007, 02:52 PM	#1 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,393 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	UK Data Protection Minister kept in the dark The UK government's data protection minister did not know about the huge data breach at HM Revenue and Customs until he heard the chancellor's statement in the Commons on November 20, he has admitted. Chancellor Alistair Darling said he had been told of the data breach - in which CDs containing the details of 25 million people were lost in transit between HMRC and the National Audit Office - on 10 November. http://www.techworld.com/security/ne...S&NewsID=10771 __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

11-28-2007, 06:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
Cellus Moderator Networking Team Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2,664 OS: Windows Vista Business SP1, Windows XP Professional SP3 My System	Re: UK Data Protection Minister kept in the dark People really need to start encrypting removable media, especially the government. Why do I have this strange feeling that those CDs were not encrypted? __________________ TSF Networking Team Virus/Trojan/Spyware Removal Help Donate!

11-29-2007, 06:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
Glaswegian Moderator/ Rangemaster TSF Academy; Analyst, Security Team; Oor Wullie; TSF Surgeon and Resident Comic Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Glasgow Posts: 25,393 OS: Win XP Pro SP3 / Win 7 Pro My System Blog Entries: 10	Re: UK Data Protection Minister kept in the dark You're correct - they were not encrypted. But it's OK, they were password protected... __________________ Iain - Defender of the Haggis and all things Scottish. I don't help by PM - post in the Forums. PC Safety & Security::PC running a bit slow?::Donate::Photographers Corner

11-30-2007, 10:58 AM	#4 (permalink)
MoralTerror Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,968 OS: xp	Re: UK Data Protection Minister kept in the dark Hmmm any building I've been in has measures in place to prevent the use of the CD Writer or sometimes even access to the CD Drive unless you have appropriate permissions. How can the Chancellor blame an office junior? Are HMRC buildings privvy to simple security? Even if the junior didn't write the CD then the Civil Servant who did should be responsible for making sure the disks were encrypted and sent securely. Incidently I got my letter of apology this afternoon. It reads: ".......A copy of some HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) data about families, including yours, who have received Chid Benefit has been lost. The copy of data is likely to still be on Government property." Hmmm can't they make their minds up? They report that it was sent by courier to the Audit office and not received, yet they're telling the people affected that it's probably still in the building. Plain and simple they breached the Data Protection Act and 25 million of us should get together and sue. __________________ Proud member of ASAP since 2007 Proud member of UNITE since 2008 Our help is completely free but please consider donating to the site to help keep it running