14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this day, it was reported that the government confirmed a major data loss caused by the HM Revenue and Customs, the UK tax department which collects taxes and works with a huge amount of residents details. Obviously, the data leakage brought at least interesting statements of the security vendors which fight for an increased computer and information security. McAfee is one of the companies that commented on the matter, Greg Day, security analyst, saying that it's way too dangerous to put so important details on CDs and send them from one department to another.
"The loss of this data by HM Revenue and Customs is yet another example of the danger of putting sensitive information on an easy-to-lose format such as discs and the result of internal policies not being backed up by good security practice," the McAfee official said according to Web User News.
"The department will need to explain to consumers why it has taken 10 days to disclose this breach and the extent of the risk to their personal details. At this point we would have to assume the worst until more details are given and the public and the government should be taking steps to limit the damage and risk, if and when the data enters the wrong hands."
In case you missed the news, it appears that the HM Revenue and Customs put the details of approximately 25 million UK residents on CDs and sent them to another government department. The only problem was that the discs never reached the destination so nobody knows exactly what happened with them. Among the details copied on the CDs there were names, addresses, birth dates and more dangerous, bank details. That's why the government advised all the residents who might be affected by this data loss to check their accounts for fraud.