Nationwide Looses 11m Customers information

amcluesent

>As they're not saying this one wonders what security there was.<

The waters have been muddied by some 'expert' talking-heads on the BBC who were spouting gibberish.

If the data on the disk was encrypted and it needed a combination of a password, biometric & access token (which wasn't also nicked) then the data should remain secure.

The Nationwide has never said anyone has been sacked for breaking the rules, only that procedures have been tightened up. Sounds like Marketing people wandering about with customer data on their laptops was the norm!

TonyB

As usual in my cynical mode:-

What happens if the employee concerned for whatever reason decided for say gain or revenge to "lose" the laptop together with prementioned difficult password? Crooks do take positions of trust!!!! The whole item of record security it seems to me to be in serious need of total overhaul & possibly some form of centralised body be appointed to deal with all internet related financial institutions.
As usual the "Oh well it happens as does I believe sh*t" will be no consolation to tose members in the future & I speak with experience of my own personal pension virtually disappearing overnight with the Equitable debacle. Act now is my recomendation to all concerned.
TonyB

Paul_Herring

ManAtHome wrote:

If somebody nicked your machine, they could easily get the data off the hard disk - a PC password is no use when the disk is in another machine.

Not necessarily. There is a way of having a(nother) password to be able to get data off the disc. http://www.truecrypt.org/

ManAtHome

Yes, but as ANE said they haven't said anything which would confirm any enhanced security. And the fact that they have now "tightened up procedures" would suggest to me that this was only protected by a network login.

My main objection to the post I quoted was the "oh well, these things happen" attitude. Yes, these things do happen, and us nasty IT bods tend to think about (and attempt to mitigate) the consequences should it happen.

Malcolm_Davis

I am not too concerned.

I have looked at a number of reports now about data breaches in the US, where they have a law that forces companies to disclose customer security problems like the Nationwide one, and still the vast majority of ID theft victims come from the real world, not the digital world. And in the states ID theft is on the way down, apparently. So there's a lot of worrying over nothing? It is possibly reassuring that Nationwide came clean, would all big companies? That is the big issue here.

Apparently there was a data breach in the US where millions of military veterans had their personal information compromised, but there haven't been any reports of ID fraud victims from it.

If my bank account gets stripped, then I will worry!!

edda

I thought Nationwide only came clean because someone leaked it to the media.

ReportInvestor

Is this maybe a more serious theft?

Evening Standard - Thief steals laptop with the financial details of 15,000 coppers

I wonder if these identity thefts/identity fraud tip the balance in the case for an ID card.

See also the thread in the Discussion area about how to stop benefit fraud. (There a millions of unattributed NI numbers.)

Is ID theft on such a serious scale that we need a simple way of checking that everyone is who they claim they are?

caveat_emptor

I first read this thread as ' Nationwide loses 11million customers'. Now that I could believe.

sandydog_2

My mum has suffered a loss on her Nationwide bank account this week. Someone's been taking money out for gambling sites. Don't know if it's anything to do with this or a big coincidence.

[Deleted User]

ReportInvestor wrote:

I just can't see the justification for having that amount of member's information on a lap top and I shall ask them about it at the next AGM.

Or if anyone is free on 23rd November 2006

Book your place at the next "Members meet the directors" forum in the Emirates Stadium in London where you can put the question to Stuart Bernau and Jeremy Wood

Did any posters attend this? Indeed, did it actually take place?