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Charity workers' pension details at risk after laptop stolen

The pension scheme details of more than 100,000 charity workers have been lost after a laptop computer was stolen, it has been reported.

Following on from a series of high-profile data losses, both within the public and private sectors, it has been revealed that on this occasion sensitive data relating to 109,000 people across six pension schemes could have been placed in jeopardy.

Specifically, the laptop was stolen from the offices of a firm which supplies online security software to the Pensions Trust, with the company in question maintaining that the data was protected by a password and therefore not easily accessible.

Confirming the data security breach, Pensions Trust spokeswomen Lynda Howe said: "We are hopeful that this incident will not have any impact on members but, as a precaution, we have arranged for them to be protected by CIFAS (the UK fraud prevention service) and have set up a members' helpline."

Earlier this month, the Guardian revealed that computer disks containing the vetting applications of RAF employees was stolen from a base in Gloucestershire, with defence officials acknowledging that this data could prove useful to criminals.

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