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Written question asked by David Laws (Liberal Democrat) on Friday, 17 November 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 21 November 2006. It was answered by Anne McGuire (Labour) on Monday, 11 December 2006 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Database Breaches

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many confirmed security breaches of databases controlled by his Department occurred in each of the last five years; whether the breach resulted from internal or external sources in each case; how many records were compromised on each occasion; and what estimate was made of the total number of records accessible to the individuals concerned.
Answer

There have been no recorded security incidents of this type from external sources within the period since January 2001. However, as the table shows, 1,142 incidences of staff using legitimate access to databases to browse data for which they had no business requirement are recorded. Neither the number of records accessed on each occasion nor the potential number of records accessible is recorded.

Number of incidents
2001 56
2002 299
2003 172
2004 242
2005 373
Total 1,142

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
102177; 454 c716W;454 c718W
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Department for Work and Pensions Hacking
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk