There's something quite sleazy and nasty about the way that this latest data loss story has hit the news. A portable hard-drive has gone missing from the offices of EDS. On that drive are personal details of 5000 people including prison staff. The drive went missing about a year ago but the loss has only just been discovered. A whistle-blower at EDS has obviously seen an opportunity to make a few quid on the side by reporting this tale to the News of The World.The predictable cries of indignation once again hit the airwaves, and various officials and politicians are all quick to get in on the act: "When was this incompetent government planning to own up to another data disaster..?" froths the Shadow Justice Secretary, Nick Herbert (see link).
Let the witch-hunt commence!
This is not the first time that EDS have been implicated in a serious data loss: the Burton Report into the loss of unencrypted MOD data has them as one of the central players. Ironically, their own website has an article about the importance of securing data off-site: The encryption of all data that is moved off-site is crucial, but should be mandatory for portable end-user devices such as laptops and PDAs, as well as all removable media.
I notice there are quite a few 500GB USB hard-drives going cheap on E-Bay. Maybe somebody from the government should start buying them up...just in case....
