Posted on 11/01/2008 6:52:52 PM PDT by BGHater
Ministers have been forced to order an emergency shutdown of a key Government computer system to protect millions of people's private details.
The action was taken after a memory stick was found in a pub car park containing confidential passcodes to the online Government Gateway system, which covers everything from tax returns to parking tickets.
An urgent investigation is now under way into how the stick, belonging to the company which runs the flagship system, came to be lost.
Security breach: The lost USB memory stick holding sensitive details
The Department for Work and Pensions insisted that the system's security has not been breached, but a computer expert told The Mail on Sunday that in the wrong hands the data on the memory stick could enable hackers to access personal details of the 12million people who have registered on the system, including their passwords.
Users trying to log on to the site yesterday were met by the message: 'The Government Gateway is temporarily offline. We apologise for any inconvenience. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.'
The Government also closed down access to self-assessment tax applications via the Revenue and Customs website.
For the past six years, the £18million Gateway system has enabled members of the public and businesses to gain access to hundreds of services from 50 Whitehall departments, including self-assessment tax returns, VAT returns, pension entitlements and child benefit.
This year alone, 1.8million people have submitted their tax returns on the system.
Members of the public registering for the service have to provide their personal details, which can include names, addresses, wages, National Insurance numbers and credit card details.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Tax website shut down as memory stick with secret personal data of 12million is found in a pub car park
I had edit title to fit into header.
Classic Gov. at work.
With the Nu-Labour government’s increasing desire to gather more info on us all the time, I can’t help wondering if all these ‘security breeches’ might not be part of some cunning plan by principled civil servants who are disgusted with the government’s infringement of civil liberties by making it look like a obviously bad idea to ordinary people, rather than simply some abstract concept perpetuated by civil rights ‘fanatics’....
Ping.
Well its possible, but to be frank, its probably more likely to be simple incompetence on the part of HMG.
This is probably the most emotive reason not to expand governments.
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