The Land Registry will block online access to sensitive
data following a security flaw being identified on its online
registry service.
A newspaper reported that criminal gangs have stolen £12m in two
years exploiting the flaws in the Land
Register Online service. Thieves used the insecure online
government register to view documents such as title deeds, which
enabled them to feign ownership of other people's
properties.
After the scam was reported the Land Registry was forced to
remove sensititve documents from its insecure website. From
midnight tonight [5 November 2007] online access to sensitive
documents such as mortgage deeds and leases will no longer be
possible. Copies of these documents will only be made available to
the public through written application.
In a statement, the Land Registry claimed that it had tightened
up access.
However, the move comes just a day after the newspaper exposed
the situation, following a period of two years in which the site
had been insecure.
Mike Westcott-Rudd, head of corporate legal services, promised
the victims of fraud need not worry. "If someone is a victim of
fraud, we have a comprehensive compensation scheme in place to put
things right," he said. However, following the newspaper story, the
Land Registry has agreed to pre-empt fraud by making it harder to
obtain sensitive documents.
Land Register Online, launched in January 2005, includes a
property database of over 21 million titles.