An investigation has been started, police have been informed as has the Financial Services Authority and the Information Commissioner. This security breach has been said to be "potentially serious" by the data watchdog.  The company has admitted that the missing data could be used fraudulently which is doubtlessly of no comfort to their 1.4 million customer base. The details contained names, addresses, payment histories and date of birth of many customers as well as National Insurance numbers, and bank account details.

The Yorkshire Post covered the story, acknowledging that the tapes were password protected however they were not encrypted. Penalties could include a fine of up to £500,000 showing the matter of data loss not to be a light one. The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham had warned in October that the number of data security breaches within the private sector continues to rise with 58% more breaches being reported to the ICO than the year before. He stated that "companies need to consider the damage that can be done to their reputation".

PCM offer a Remote Data Backup service which provides an automatic means of backing up, encrypting information that is backed up and transferred to a secure server. To find out more about the benefits of Remote Data Backup and the advantages over tape and other commonly used methods of backup, visit our Remote Data Backup page. For further advice please don't hesitate to get in touch with one of our team on 0113 231 1066.