Serious Fraud Office fined £180,000 for BAE data breach

Serious Fraud Office fined £180,000 for BAE data breach

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been fined £180,000 after thousands of confidential documents from a high-profile bribery investigation were mistakenly sent to the wrong person.

The papers, from an investigation into a BAE Systems deal, contained evidence relating to 64 people. They were wrongly sent to a witness in the case in an “astounding” lapse, the Information Commissioner’s Office said. The SFO said it had “substantially overhauled its procedures”. It is the first time the SFO has been fined by the UK’s privacy regulator.

The documents – including bank statements, hospital invoices and passport details – related to the SFO’s investigation into allegations that executives at BAE received payments as part of an arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The al-Yamamah deal involved the sale of tens of billions of pounds worth of arms by BAE to Saudi Arabia, beginning in the 1980s and ending in 2006 with the sale of 72 Typhoon fighter jets.

Allegations of corruption and bribery led to an SFO investigation in 2004 but it was closed in 2006 on grounds of public interest, amid concerns that relations with Saudi Arabia were being harmed. After it was closed, the SFO sent more than 2,000 bags of evidence to “Witness A” between November 2011 and February 2013.

‘Sensitive’ evidence

It was later discovered that a “relatively inexperienced” temporary worker had mistakenly sent 407 of the bags belonging to 64 people to the witness, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said. Despite the witness contacting the SFO to say he had wrongly received some evidence in November 2011, the SFO sent him more in May 2012, the regulator added. This was despite the witness’s concerns being raised at a “senior level”.

The breach was likely to have caused “substantial distress” to witnesses, the ICO said, as there was evidence some of the information was disclosed to a national newspaper and “possibly disseminated overseas”. The SFO began investigating the breach after details were requested in response to a parliamentary question in June 2013.

At that time Labour MP Emily Thornberry told Parliament the documents had been found in a storage facility which was also being used as a cannabis farm in east London. People will be “quite rightly shocked” the SFO failed to keep the information of so many individuals secure, ICO deputy commissioner David Smith said. “Given how high-profile this case was – and how sensitive the evidence being returned to witnesses potentially was – it is astounding that the SFO got this wrong,” he said.

The SFO has since recovered 98% of the documents and taken action to ensure adequate security checks, the ICO said. A SFO spokeswoman said the fine was “expected”, adding: “The SFO took immediate action to recover the data and, following two independent reviews, substantially overhauled its procedures to ensure this mistake could not be made again.”

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news

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Police investigate assault at Dagenham Heathway Tube

Police investigate assault at Dagenham Heathway Tube

Police are appealing for information after a man was assaulted in at Dagenham Heathway underground station in east London.

A 28-year-old man was talking to another man on the train but was assaulted by him when he broke off to answer a call on his phone. The incident, which happened at 11.35pm on Friday, March 27, took place on an eastbound District line train. As the train arrived at Dagenham Heathway, the attacker fled the train. The victim, who sustained facial cuts and bruises, pursued him, but he escaped.

Detective Constable Michael Hatcher said: “This was an unprovoked assault of the kind which is very rare on the rail network. “As part of our investigation we have carried out enquiries at the station and reviewed CCTV. “I believe the man in the image we are issuing today has information about what took place. “If you recognise him or have any information about the incident, please get in touch.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40, or text 61016, quoting reference TSUB/B6 of 30/04/2015. Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Source: http://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/

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David Cameron takes 5-point lead in election race

David Cameron takes 5-point lead in election race

With just one week until polling day, a major survey puts the Tories on 35 per cent of the vote, ahead of Labour on 30 per cent.

 

The Conservatives have taken a five-point lead over Labour with just one week until the general election, a poll has found. A survey by Ipsos Mori for The Evening Standard puts David Cameron’s party on 35 per cent of the vote, ahead of Labour on 30 per cent. The poll puts Ukip on 10 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats and The Green Party each on 8 per cent of the vote. It will come as a major boost to Mr Cameron, who in recent days has attempted to present a more positive vision for the next five years after criticism of a lacklustre Tory election campaign. Despite the good news for the Conservatives, most experts are still predicting another hung Parliament after the election. With another poll on Wednesday predicting that Labour will be entirely wiped out in Scotland on election day, it raises the prospect of Ed Miliband being reliant on the support of the SNP if he is to enter Downing Street.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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