Government Databases and You

1
Government Databases and You

• or
• How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
  Information Loss.
• By Patrick Fahey
• Mis 304

2
What happens when governments transfer data?

• HMRC(HM Revenue and Customs) lost 25 million
  individuals' data
• The data included information all families in the
  UK with children under the age of 16
• Two disks were being transferred between branches
  of the government
• The information was being sent to the National
  Audit Office
• This was to check for benefits fraud

3
The database

• Key identifier is the National Insurance Number
• Other information included
• All family members names living in the same house
• Partners included
• Dates of birth
• Addresses
• Employment information
• Bank account information for head of household
• The disks were password protected, but not
  encrypted

4
The Black market for your information

• Bank account numbers30 to 400
• Credit cards.50 to 5
• 15 million bank accounts were tied to the
  information that was lost
• The two missing computer discs could be worth up
  to 1.5bn to criminals.

5
Government Reaction

• Government only announced problem after a month
  of the data missing
• Set up hotline for fraud awareness/prevention
• Which told people to check their bank accounts
• Sent out letters of assurance
• HMRC chancellor resigns

6
Two years on

• The government still loses one PC a week to theft
• The discs have still no been found
• Procedures aren't being followed
• After the first disks were lost, a second set was
  posted off. In breach of procedures.
• Data can still be directly downloaded from
  computers with sensitive information
• There are no controls on removable storage devices

7
Changes need to be made

• Removable devices need to be disabled
• Government agencies need to be hooked up to a
  secure network
• Encryption
• Access to large databases of information needs to
  be protected both online and in person
• Separate databases for names and financial data
• Dont transfer computer information by MAIL!!!