The Home Office has fired the contractor that
lost the details of 84,000 prisoners last month on an
unencrypted memory stick.
PA Consulting was contracted to process data from the prison
service's
J-Track system for helping police officers track and
rehabilitate prolific offenders.
The inquiry found that the data stick used to transfer data
between computers at PA Consulting was not
encrypted or
managed properly.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith said, "This was a clear breach of
the robust terms of the contract covering security and data
handling."
Based on the finding of the inquiry, the Home Office has
terminated the contract and will review all other contracts with PA
Consulting, she said.
The firm said in a statement that it accepted responsibility,
but that the loss of data was caused by an employee who breached
information security processes.
The statement said several government departments have carried
out their own extensive audits of PA projects and in all cases have
found them to be fully compliant.
Andrew Rigby, partner at legal firm Brodies, said government
will have the right to claim compensation for PA Consulting's
breach of contract.
However, he said the extent of the claim will be limited by the
terms of the contract.
The home secretary has commissioned a report on the government
response to the incident.
"Given the seriousness of this incident, I believe it is
important to provide external assurance to the public on our
response to the incident and enable others to benefit from the
lessons learned, she said.