Brown comments an open invitation to hackers

Comments made by Gordon Brown about the difficulties in preventing data leaks have not gone down too well with those in the security channel.

Earlier this week The Times reported that Brown had said that mistakes that happened in the most recent loss of tax return information by Atos Origin were “human” and mistakes would happen because people were involved in handling data.

In response Nick Garlick, managing director of Nebulas Solutions Group, said that the implications of the prime minister’s statement were “astonishing”.

“Brown's comment shows only too clearly how ignorant the Government is about technology and how little it has invested to protect sensitive and confidential information.  The recent spate of security breaches is entirely preventable,” he said.

He added that the technology, including encryption and data loss prevention tools, are already available and could be backed up with security policies.  

“The Prime Minister's comment will result in a further loss of confidence in the Government's ability to protect any data. In light of this, Brown's comments are an open invitation to hackers, online criminals and organised crime to redouble their efforts to steal this data,” he said.

There have been a high number of high-profile data leaks following on from the HMRC loss of 25m personal records last autumn. Since then laptops have been lost and memory sticks containing records ranging from prison officers details and MoD staff have all been lost.