Another UK Government Data Breach
Laptop Security Blog Another UK Government Data Breach
January 19th, 2008
Author: arieannaWho Breached: Ministry of Defence (UK)
Number Affected: 600,000
Information breached: National Insurance Numbers, Passport details
How: laptop theft
Britain’s Ministry of Defence has announced that a stolen laptop has put the personal details of 600,000 at risk. Not just for identity theft – potentially for far worse.
The laptop of a Royal Navy officer was stolen from a car parked overnight on January 9/10. This laptop contained personal information for 600,000 people interested in joining the armed forces. Members of the armed forces have been targets for terrorist attacks, so the loss of this information adds another level of concern.
The information on the laptop included passport details, National Insurance numbers, family details and medical records. There were also bank records for at least 3,500 people.
The Government is, as expected, receiving even more criticism for the continued string of data breaches.
In other news, a lost computer tape at JC Penney has exposed another 650,000 to the threat of identity theft. Read more about that here.
Via attrition.org Tags: ministry of defence, data breach, uk, uk government, data loss, laptop theft, armed forces
Category: Data Breach, Government Security, Laptop Security, Real Theft Reports, Security Breach | 
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