Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 41 to 53 of 53

Thread: Data security

  1. #41
    Registered User RedFox's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    121
    Rep Power
    9

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    The Government's going to be associated with "dodgy data" for a looong time now - and rightly so. They'd never push an ID cards bill through after this; it was unlikely before, it's near-impossible now. It'll just die a death - it was doing so under Brown anyway, in fact.
    Well... if the ID cards bill had to be pushed through now there might be problems - but the bill actually became law on March 30th last year. Though, of course, implementation could be halted should the Government choose to do so.
    Last edited by RedFox; 23rd-November-2007 at 05:03 PM. Reason: formatting error

  2. #42
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by RedFox View Post
    Well... if the ID cards bill had to be pushed through now there might be problems - but the bill actually became law on March 30th last year. Though, of course, implementation could be halted should the Government choose to do so.
    Err, yeah, that's what I meant

  3. #43
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    London & environs'
    Posts
    3,938
    Rep Power
    9

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post

    Hmmm, I can't help notice a deafening lack of posts from ID-card supporters..
    I have always been against them, on account of the ID card being stolen and copied by crims.

    Presumably there would be a photo on. The data could be encrypted though. Even then, the crims would manage to aquire a decoding machine.

    The govt. planned to force us to carry them at all times - don't want to get mugged for my ID card.

    Not sure if I posted though, so you'll have to believe me.

    It's a no brainer.

  4. #44
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Southampton
    Posts
    6,709
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    But the scary thing is not what he did, or even that it got lost. The scary thing is that he could do it in the first place, and that there were no access controls on this data - I'm assuming this sort of thing was a fairly regular occurrence. And of course, we only know about it now because of the discs being lost.
    A radio interviewee pointed out that this 23 year old 'junior official' (clerk, surely? ed.) could well have been in the position of being paid £50,000 for the downloaded data by unsavoury persons.

    We'd never even have known about that because if he was selling the information it's unlikely he would have told his bosses.

    So yes, it should have been impossible for him to download the data, and he certainly shouldn't have had a DVD/CD writer in his desktop; only an authorised person should be able to do that.

    (Memo to self: must check Data Protection Act to see what sections were breached...)

  5. #45
    Registered User Twirly's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    SE London
    Posts
    4,204
    Rep Power
    11

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov View Post
    (Memo to self: must check Data Protection Act to see what sections were breached...)
    Out of curiousity Barry, could any members of the public whose data has gone missing sue the government for any breaches of the Act? Even if nothing remiss happens because of the leak?

  6. #46
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by Twirly View Post
    Out of curiousity Barry, could any members of the public whose data has gone missing sue the government for any breaches of the Act? Even if nothing remiss happens because of the leak?
    There was a question about this on the radio a couple of days ago - the question related to a class action, but the answer was "Yes, it's certainly possible".

  7. #47
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    bedford
    Posts
    4,899
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Shnikov View Post
    ...So yes, it should have been impossible for him to download the data, and he certainly shouldn't have had a DVD/CD writer in his desktop; only an authorised person should be able to do that..
    a USB memory stick is quite sufficient to hold all the relevant data, or a tiny plug in wireless device could broadcast it outside. Only trusted employees should have access to PC's containing vital data. Security has become even more of a nightmare due to technological advances.

  8. #48
    Formerly known as DavidJames David Bailey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Norf Lundin
    Posts
    17,001
    Blog Entries
    1
    Rep Power
    18

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by bigdjiver View Post
    a USB memory stick is quite sufficient to hold all the relevant data, or a tiny plug in wireless device could broadcast it outside. Only trusted employees should have access to PC's containing vital data. Security has become even more of a nightmare due to technological advances.
    It's not a major technological challenge to, you know, buy secure PCs that don't have CD / DVD writers, USB ports, etc. In fact, that's what happens in a lot of companies and government departments now. How difficult would that have been?

    And a proper company - that is, one with an actual database administrator, say one with more than about 2 employees - might even go so far as to have users belonging to defined groups with specific access permissions.

    Christ, even I could set that level of security up for my company. The fact that even these muppet-level security measures weren't in place for a system holding the personal data about, let's remember, 25 million people, is beyond farcical.

    We don't need cyber-terrorists hacking into our systems - we've got New Labour to do their work for them. ID cards? I wouldn't trust them with my Tesco clubcard.

    And I'm still waiting for an ID card defender to put their head above the parapet...

  9. #49
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    bedford
    Posts
    4,899
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    It's not a major technological challenge to, you know, buy secure PCs that don't have CD / DVD writers, USB ports, etc. ...
    Do you, by any chance, access the forum from work?

  10. #50
    Registered User Lynn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Belfast
    Posts
    8,925
    Rep Power
    15

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidJames View Post
    They should have looked in the stationery cupboard. Everyone knows that's where all the good stuff is kept.
    Yep. We were clearing out the stationary cupboard for an office move the other week and I found some pretty sensitive personnel files about a senior member of staff at the bottom of a pile of paper (fortunately in time to hide it and return to them without anyone else knowing). No idea how it got in there!

  11. #51
    An Eclectic Toaster
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    2,042
    Rep Power
    12

    Re: Data security

    For anyone fooled by dear Darling's "ah, but there'll be biometrics so it couldn't happen" defence of ID cards, read this article by Ben Goldacre. Shows you how useless fingerprint security is, as an example.

  12. #52
    Registered User Isis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    1,398
    Rep Power
    9

    Re: Data security

    Awww I've just had a lovely letter this morning from HMRC apologising for losing my data and telling me not to worry about it.

    Now I'm worried.

  13. #53
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    bedford
    Posts
    4,899
    Rep Power
    13

    Re: Data security

    Quote Originally Posted by Isis View Post
    Awww I've just had a lovely letter this morning from HMRC ...
    Who was it addressed to?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Backup that precious data for an easy life.
    By DundeeDancer in forum Geeks' Corner
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 21st-September-2007, 09:43 AM
  2. Vista Security!
    By Franck in forum Geeks' Corner
    Replies: 42
    Last Post: 21st-February-2007, 01:21 AM
  3. AOL V Norton Fire wall security problem
    By stewart38 in forum Geeks' Corner
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 20th-March-2006, 04:08 PM
  4. Sat 29 Oct
    By tiger in forum Social events
    Replies: 41
    Last Post: 1st-November-2005, 04:39 PM
  5. Proposal for "backup your data day"
    By spindr in forum Chit Chat
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 16th-May-2005, 11:52 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •