HMRC data loss leaves 25 million exposed

budnonymous · Top Poster

HMRC's lost disks turn up...on Ebay.

budnonymous · Top Poster

Here is a screencapture of that spoof listing, 640 pixels wide.
click to enlarge

-- Edited by budnonymous at 08:31, 2007-11-21

budnonymous · Top Poster

This looks like a pretty big event.

HMRC data loss leaves 25 million exposed

Revenue chief Paul Gray resigns

Iain Thomson in California, vnunet.com 21 Nov 2007

The head of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has resigned after it was revealed in parliament that the personal details of 25 million Britons had been "lost in the post".

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said in a statement that two CDs with the details of 25 million families had been sent to the National Audit Office by courier firm TNT but failed to arrive.

The material was apparently put in the post by a junior employee at the HMRC office in Washington, Tyne & Wear.

The disks, which were password protected but not encrypted, contained names, addresses, dates of birth, child benefit numbers, National Insurance numbers and bank or building society account details.

Paul Gray, chairman of HMRC, has already resigned and opposition MPs are calling on Darling to do likewise.

"The lost bank account numbers, names and addresses represents a gold mine for thieves and is much more valuable than credit card numbers or taxpayer ID numbers," said Avivah Litan, vice president at Gartner Research.

"Bank account numbers sell for the highest price on the black market, between $30 and $400, which is significantly more than the 50 cents to $5 that criminals pay for credit cards.

"If evidence emerges that the data fell into criminal hands, the UK banks may be forced to close the 15 million accounts and issue new ones at an enormous cost to them and a major inconvenience for their customers."

This is the third in a series of data breaches at HMRC. The organisation lost the details of a number of high net worth individuals in October, and banking details for 15,000 savers went missing earlier this month when a laptop was stolen.

"Another week and another high profile data breach for the government," said Joseph Hoban, vice president at data protection firm GuardianEdge.

"This is not the first time that public data has been compromised and, if lacklustre security continues to rule, it certainly will not be the last.

"It is time that tougher security measures were taken to protect our most confidential files. Securing two disks with only a password is not sufficient."

Darling has described the incident as "extremely regrettable" but has resisted calls for his resignation.

The loss has also sparked renewed calls for a data breach law that would force the government and companies to inform people if their data had been put at risk.

"California introduced data breach notification legislation some time ago, which compels businesses to inform customers if their personal data may have been compromised," said Richard Turner, vice president of sales at security firm RSA.

"The introduction of similar legislation would not only be a significant step in combating fraud, but constitutes a basic human entitlement.

"Public awareness of security breaches would serve to focus organisations on ensuring that confidential information is adequately protected, and enable the public to take appropriate safeguards in the event of a compromise."

budnonymous · Top Poster

How HMRC gave away the UK's national identity

Gov, banks scream 'Don't Panic'

By John Oates More by this author

Published Tuesday 20th November 2007 17:42 GMT

UK Identity Crisis Early last month Her Majesty's Customs and Revenue apologised after a laptop containing data on 400 customers was stolen. At the time the Revenue was praised by the security industry for coming clean and its "refreshing level of ethical responsibility".

Earlier this month that it had lost pension records for 15,000 people which were put on a CD and sent, possibly unencrypted, by courier to Standard Life's Edinburgh headquarters.

So it seems unlikely that many will be lining up to congratulate Chancellor Alistair Darling today after it emerged that the Revenue has lost a staggering 25 million customer accounts.

In fact, the Revenue could easily have lost the data three times. The CDs were sent first in April in breach of HMRC's own procedures. This month the database was again put on CD and sent to the National Audit Office not once, but twice. We should count ourselves lucky that the data has, apparently, only been lost once.

Still, by sending the data by CD we cannot be sure where it has gone or who has seen it. Several Reg reader comments pointed out that CDs are no way to be transporting sensitive information. The details of how you do so are not important - using CDs simply cannot provide a secure delivery.

Police are still investigating and the search is focussed on the Child Benefit office in Waterview Park, Washington, Sunderland.

It won't take long for them to get their heads round the complexity of the revenue's internal mail system. One staff member at HMRC who contacted The Register explained how the grid mail system works.

"Imagine an A4 sized envelope, with a set of gridlines printed on one side, three columns by 30 or so rows, making 90 boxes. When you want to send stuff internally between Civil Service offices, you get one off the pile, drop your stuff into it and scribble the recipient name and office number in one of the boxes.

"You then leave it in a tray for the Internal Mail people to collect, it goes down to the post room and after a period of time elapses, it arrives at the destination. You get the stuff out, scribble out the last set of details and drop the grid on the 'to be used' pile.

"There's no security, given that the grids are not stuck down, but sometimes you get the more security-aware users sticking a label across the seal and signing it, so there's some evidence if it's tampered with."

Even 25 years ago, who could have possibly thought this is a safe way to send private information about 25 million people?

Still, the Inland Revenue issued the following statement for worried recipients of child benefit: "If you are concerned about the potential HMRC data compromise, please telephone the HMRC dedicated Child Benefit Helpline on 0845 302 1444. Whilst there is no evidence that the lost data has fallen into criminal hands we have produced customer advice, containing questions and answers, as well as top tips on spotting and stopping ID theft."

APACS, the UK bank payment system, reassured customers that even if the CDs did end up in the wrong hands they did not contain enough information on their own to conduct fraud.

Paul Smee, chief exec at APACS, said: "In the event that anyone is the innocent victim of fraud as a result of this incident customers can have peace of mind that they enjoy protection under the Banking Code which means that you should not suffer any financial loss as a result.

"The banking industry would like to reassure its customers that sort code and bank account, national insurance number, date of birth, name and address details are not enough in themselves for an ID fraudster to access your bank account as additional security information and passwords are always required."

Anyone else with a story to tell, please get in touch by clicking on the byline above this story. ®

81 comments

budnonymous · Top Poster

Home Office Laptop 'Bought On Ebay'

Mark White
Home affairs correspondent

Updated:10:58, Thursday February 28, 2008

A computer repair technician has told Sky News how he discovered a highly confidential Government data disc hidden within an official laptop, which had been sold over eBay.

Lee Bevan, managing director of Leapfrog Computers near Bolton, said: "A customer brought a laptop into our repair shop. In between the keyboard and the circuit board we found a CD that said Home Office, Highly Confidential."

Mr Bevan immediately contacted the Metropolitan Police in London and officers from the Counter Terror Command in Manchester recovered the equipment.

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed "Encrypted IT equipment has been handed to Greater Manchester Police.

"Both the laptop and the disk were encrypted, thus safeguarding any information that might be stored on them."

The incident follows a number of embarrassing losses of information by government departments in recent months.

In November, Chancellor Alistair Darling admitted that computer discs holding personal information on 25 million people had gone missing.

The following month, the Department of the Environment revealed that two computer discs containing the names and addresses of more than 7000 Northern Ireland motorists had disappeared.

Also in December, Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly admitted a private contractor had lost the records of more than three million learner drivers from a "secure facility" in Iowa.

Then HM Revenue and Customs revealed it had lost a computer cartridge containing the names, postcodes and National Insurance numbers of 6,500 customers of a private pensions firm.

The month got worse for the government when nine NHS trusts admitted losing patients' information.

The Department of Health said it believed 168,000 patients were affected.

Last month, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Court Administration said it had launched an investigation after four CD-Roms containing personal details went missing after they were posted by recorded delivery.

budnonymous · Top Poster

Home Office disc hidden in laptop

11:07am today

A highly confidential Home Office disc was found on a laptop computer sold on eBay.

Police are investigating after the disc - which was hidden between the keyboard and circuit board - was discovered by computer repair technicians.

Lee Bevan, managing director of Leapfrog Computers, in Westhoughton, near Bolton, said: "A customer brought a notebook into our repair shop. In between the keyboard and the circuit board we found a CD that said 'Home Office highly confidential'.

"We put it in the CD drive to check it wasn't bogus but it was encrypted. We put it in the safe and called the Metropolitan Police. The notebook has been bought on eBay by this customer.

"If you're going to hide anything then it's a cracking idea. It's been put there deliberately."

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We understand that encrypted IT equipment has been handed to Greater Manchester Police. Both the laptop and the disc were encrypted, thus safeguarding any information that might be stored on them.

The incident follows a number of embarrassing losses of information by government departments in recent months.

In November, Chancellor Alistair Darling admitted that computer discs holding personal information on 25 million people had gone missing.

The following month, the Department of the Environment revealed that two computer discs containing the names and addresses of 7,685 Northern Ireland motorists had disappeared.

Last month, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Court Administration said it had launched an investigation after four CD-Roms containing personal details went missing after they were posted by recorded delivery.