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 Atos Origin which runs the flagship system, came to be lost. Flash drive belonged to Daniel Harrington, an IT analyst at Atos. The Department for Work and Pensions insisted that the system's security has not been breached, but a computer expert told 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. 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. The lost memory stick was found two weeks ago outside a Brewers Fayre chain pub in Cannock, Staffordshire, but the Department of Work and Pensions, which owns the Government Gateway, was made aware of its loss only last week when the 2in device was passed to this newspaper. It contained confidential passwords, security software and the technical blueprint to the system known as the 'source code'.
