AUSTRALIA COMPUTER THIEVES HIT CENTERLINK The Advertiser: Computer thieves hit Centrelink [22jan06]: "Computer thieves hit Centrelink

22jan06
MORE than 70 computers - including 15 from South Australia- are among hundreds of items stolen from Centrelink offices, it has been revealed.

A total of 81 burglaries have netted taxpayer-owned property worth more than $215,000 over the past five years.

The stolen computers possibly contain private customer details.

Centrelink has been forced to boost security and install security cameras in offices across the nation in a bid to halt the break-ins.

A Centrelink spokeswoman was unable to say whether customer privacy had been breached as a result of the computer thefts, which included laptops. But she said individual computers were regularly checked and security measures were in place to prevent such breaches. "

Centrelink stores all customer records on centralised computer databases," she said.

"It is our policy that staff are not to store any customer information on individual computers.

"And we have got a number of security measures in place – cards, passwords, screen locks – to protect customer data against unauthorised access. So just because you have a Centrelink computer doesn't mean that you can get access to customer records."

There have been 15 burglaries in SA over the past five years:

FOUR at Enfield which netted eight computers and a projector valued at more than $10,000.

FOUR at Salisbury – two VCRs, seven computers and a projector valued at more than $8000.