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ID theft fear for prisoners after USB data loss

ID theft concerns have been raised for more than 6,000 prisoners and ex prisoners after a memory stick containing their details was lost by a health worker in the UK.

According to Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust, the affected individuals from Her Majesty's Prison Preston, Lancashire had their details stolen on December 30th when an encrypted USB stick containing the data was lost.

However, despite this security measure, the password for unlocking the encryption was attached on a note to the lost disk, negating the protection encryption would have provided.

"We are taking this very seriously, and we would like to apologise unreservedly for any concern this incident has caused," a spokesman from the Trust said. "It should never have happened."

Following the incident all USB sticks that were being used by the area's staff have been withdrawn as the organisation reviews its data security policy.

A weak dictionary password by a Twitter employee recently led to an internet security breach of the micro-blogging site, which exposed celebrities and members to online threats.

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