IRELAND COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM NORTHERN CIVIL SERVANTS Irish Examiner> Breaking News> Sport: "27/02/2007 - 11:52:42 AM

Fraud fears after civil servants' computers stolen

Thieves have stolen 55 computers from Northern civil servants during a nine-year crime spree, it emerged today.

Equipment taken from homes and offices across the administration was worth £61,092 (€90,900).

The Northern Ireland Office had a computer stolen every year since 1999."

While an official spokesman said nothing sensitive was in the PCs and laptops, a Conservative Party MP claimed identity fraudsters could be using thousands of people's personal details.

“I think this displays considerable carelessness and we need answers about how so many computers have gone missing,” Northern Ireland Office spokesman David Lidington said.

He obtained the information through a parliamentary question.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development was worst affected, with 14 devices disappearing since 2001.

There was one pocket PC taken. Only two laptops, taken from the Department of Finance and Personnel in 2003, have been recovered.

Mr Lidington added: “We need to know what information was there. Was it security sensitive and did it include personal data, names and addresses of individuals?

“There may be comparable information, which would be useful to identity fraudsters.”

Last November security experts said details of Nationwide Building Society’s 11 million customers could be accessed by criminals after a laptop was stolen from the home of an employee.

Nationwide added that no data had been stolen and nobody lost any money.

Mr Lidington said: “We need an assurance that personal information was not on these computers.

"Any department could have information useful to identity fraudsters.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Finance and Personnel said the computers were protected by password.

“Nothing of a confidential nature was contained on any of the machines and all the laptops were password-protected. The equipment wasstolen from a variety of places including from homes and cars.”

Earlier this month, council staff in England were asked to contact a helpline after the theft of a laptop containing the national insurance and bank details of thousands of employees.

Worcestershire County Council employs 18,000 people but will not say how many are affected. It is feared they are now at risk of identity fraud.