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Nine sacked for breaching core ID card database

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    Nine sacked for breaching core ID card database

    From yesterday's Guardian

    Nine sacked for breaching core ID card database

    The government must be quietly grateful to the distractions of August. Only Computer Weekly noticed that nine local authority workers have been sacked for accessing the personal records of celebrities, and their acquaintances held on the core database of the government's ID scheme.

    This is a significant story because government ministers have always dismissed campaigners' claims that once all personal information is stored in a single database it will become vulnerable to abuse by those with access to the system. Ministers have repeatedly insisted that security will be absolute and that severe penalties will deter anyone tempted to read files illegally.

    Not true. The magazine's website reported that the nine fired were among 34 people who illegally accessed information. Some were reprimanded, some resigned and some were sacked but none was prosecuted. Using a freedom of information request, Computer Weekly found that Cardiff and Glasgow Councils sacked people who had looked up celebrities in the customer information system (CIS) which is run by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and contains 90 million records. Various other councils sacked people for looking up their friends, their own details and in one instance, a girlfriends.

    The really important point is that these cases come from sample checks, this raises the prospect that the security of CIS is in fact much more regularly breached. "Over 200,000 government officials have access to the database," says the website, "including 480 local authorities, and numerous government departments, including the Department of Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs, and the Courts Service. The Child Support Agency uses the CIS to trace missing parents."
    Work in the public sector? Read the IR35 FAQ here

    #2
    Not surprised in the slightest that the security is complete bollocks.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by TykeMerc View Post
      Not surprised in the slightest that the security is complete bollocks.
      There was a chap here on CUK, I forgot his name, that was an expert on security. Maybe he could help?
      How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.

      Follow me on Twitter - LinkedIn Profile - The HAB blog - New Blog: Mad Cameron
      Xeno points: +5 - Asperger rating: 36 - Paranoid Schizophrenic rating: 44%

      "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to high office" - Aesop

      Comment


        #4
        Minestrone and/or Igcognito will be along in a minute to say all our data is safe and we're a gang of Luddites if we object

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Peoplesoft bloke View Post
          Minestrone and/or Igcognito will be along in a minute to say all our data is safe and we're a gang of Luddites if we object
          I said to you last week that it was written wrongly, but your pea brain can't remember back that far or the fact that you voted for the party that decided how to write it.

          Comment


            #6
            Far too late...

            The underling technology that the UK ID card is based on was hacked to the point of rendering it worthless before the cards left the drawing board.

            http://www.itproportal.com/security/...rd-12-minutes/

            Not much point sacking these guys if the info is already in the public domain.

            PZZ

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by pzz76077 View Post
              The underling technology that the UK ID card is based on was hacked to the point of rendering it worthless before the cards left the drawing board.

              http://www.itproportal.com/security/...rd-12-minutes/

              Not much point sacking these guys if the info is already in the public domain.

              PZZ
              The sample cards have very low level encryption and this story is just a rehash of ones that have been running for a few years. Sounds like a good story but really it is a pile of crap to keep daily mail readers frothing.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by minestrone View Post
                The sample cards have very low level encryption and this story is just a rehash of ones that have been running for a few years. Sounds like a good story but really it is a pile of crap to keep daily mail readers frothing.
                Well any gestimates to how long the pucker cards will take to break??

                My guess is that it wont be too long....if you know what data is on your own card, thats half the battle, or failing that, it sounds easier to just get some Gov employee to look it up for you

                PZZ
                Last edited by pzz76077; 11 August 2009, 19:52.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by HairyArsedBloke View Post
                  There was a chap here on CUK, I forgot his name, that was an expert on security. Maybe he could help?
                  Chetty? Wasn't he sacked, along with Bollington Bertie or whoever the other guy was?
                  Work in the public sector? Read the IR35 FAQ here

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by minestrone View Post
                    I said to you last week that it was written wrongly, but your pea brain can't remember back that far or the fact that you voted for the party that decided how to write it.
                    Ah yes - but (leaving aside your continuing insults) in principle you think it's a workable and necessary scheme.

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