About 26,000 staff at Marks and Spencer risk being the
victims of identity theft after a laptop was stolen containing
their personal details.
The laptop was stolen from a printing company and contained the
employees’ names, salary details, addresses, national insurance
numbers, dates of birth and phone numbers.
The details were part of a database the firm keeps on staff who
are part of the Marks and Spencer final salary pension scheme.
The company is offering those affected by the identity theft
threat free credit checks to help monitor the situation.
The printing firm had the database to allow it to write to
employees about changes in the pension scheme.
Marks and Spencer said the laptop was stolen last month and was
password protected. It is not believed the data was encrypted
however. The company said it wrote to those affected two days after
the theft.
Guardian:
M&S staff at risk after firm's laptop is
stolen
Laptop-tracking technology rarely used among SMBs >>
Regulator offers clues on TJX security failings >>
Laptop theft compromises childrens' data >>
David Lacey’s
security blog >>
Comment on this article: e-mail
computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk