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Memory stick loss embarrasses Whitehall

A Government computer system has been shut down after a memory stick containing confidential pass codes was found in a pub car park.

The passwords and codes relate to the Government Gateway system, which covers areas such as tax returns and parking tickets and may include payment details. In the wrong hands the data could enable hackers to access personal details of the 12 million people who have registered on the Gateway system.

The system allows members of the public and businesses to access hundreds of services from 50 Whitehall departments, including self-assessment tax returns, pension entitlements and child benefits.

The memory stick containing the data was found two weeks ago outside a pub in Cannock, Staffordshire.

It was handed into a newspaper and is now in the hands of police.

The loss is being investigated.

The breach is the latest in a string of embarrassing scandals involving lost government data.Which includes the records of 25 million child benefit claimants which were lost last year.

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