board gais stolen laptops

horse7

looks like i,ll have to close my bank account,and all my direct debits,and restart all my direct debits in a new account,due to account details been stolen from boadr gais.

Thanos

horse7 wrote: »

looks like i,ll have to close my bank account,and all my direct debits,and restart all my direct debits in a new account,due to account details been stolen from boadr gais.

Really?!?!? What are you basing this on?

There is no information yet that the data has been used in this way.
Also as it was lost by Board Gais, who do you think would be liable for any loss to you account...................?

admiralofthefleet

here is a link from rte, im very worried as i have everything on DD

Kensington

Overreacting much?

The only direct debit details they'd have is the one between yourself and Bord Gais. As for your banking details, what can they do with them? Presumably you only gave them bank account number and branch sort code - not credit/debit card numbers...

_Whimsical_

There's a chance that details on stolen laptops may have been sold onto criminal gangs outside of Ireland in Russia or China. More than likely though it was an oportunistic robbery and all details on the laptops were immediately deleted so the laptops could be sold in Ireland. I don't think you need to cancel anything immediately. Just be vigilant and keep an eye on your account until you know more.

_Whimsical_

Kensington wrote: »

Overreacting much?

The only direct debit details they'd have is the one between yourself and Bord Gais. As for your banking details, what can they do with them? Presumably you only gave them bank account number and branch sort code - not credit/debit card numbers...

According to the Deputy Data Protection Commisioner in the wrong hands these details are enough to put you at considerable risk of identity theft or bank withdrawls.I thought it would be less serious but I presume he should know best.

Kensington

Any fraudulent activity, should it happen, will ultimately end up being covered by the bank. As you mention though, I'd say these laptops were nothing but a "chance" robbery where they'll simply be wiped, reloaded with a fresh copy of Windows and flogged on as second hand. Anyone suggesting you need to go changing your bank account or cards at this stage, is simply overreacting.

horse7

well they have your name ,address,bank sort code,bank account,and with these details they can set up a direct debit from your bank account,and i dont see board gais covering the bill.theres noting on the board gais web site.and there are no statements from them saying they will cover any illegal d.debits.by the way the laptops were stolen 2 weeks ago.

Arciphel

If you're that worried, then just open a new account and transfer your cash in there for a few weeks until it either blows over or they recover the laptops (not very likely :rolleyes:).

I am a bit pissed off that Bord Gais kept their traps shut about this using the excuse that a garda investigation was underway - bad PR i think, would have been far better to come clean immediately.

Sleipnir

I'm amazed that the banking details of 75,000 people could be kept on an unencrypted laptop. How could a company like Bord Gais allow that?!?!?

Arciphel

Because they are obviously complete mongos. But as usual, nothing will be done about it.

foggy_lad

Sleipnir wrote: »

I'm amazed that the banking details of 75,000 people could be kept on an unencrypted laptop. How could a company like Bord Gais allow that?!?!?

the same way the hse and banks can do it!

smelltheglove

A few years back there were laptops stolen from the government, at the time I was receiving lone parents, before I met my husband. It wasnt until 2 or 3 years later that I received a letter to confirm that all of my details were on one of those stolen latops.

I have never had any funny activity on my bank accounts, and they had details of both of my bank accounts, and nothing has ever come from it.

I know you may want to be safe but I dont think there is a huge risk, most likely opportunists.

Honda08

horse7 wrote: »

looks like i,ll have to close my bank account,and all my direct debits,and restart all my direct debits in a new account,due to account details been stolen from boadr gais.

is john mullins still the cx of bord gais, ? i want to send him a strongly worded email but im not sure what the emaill addy is, is it @bge.ie or bordgais.ie?

i tried both and the email bounced back as unknown,,,

horse7

re;A few years back there were laptops stolen from the government, at the time I was receiving lone parents. that was the government giving you money,with these details someone can take money off you,and you dont know till you read a bank statement.

DarrenLaois

i just talked to the Board gais support on the phone, they cannot say at the moment who is effected by this, but will let everyone who has had there details stolen know by next Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. AMAZING!!!

horse7

did they say they will cover any inappropreiations.

Sleipnir

horse7 wrote: »

did they say they will cover any inappropreiations.

Are your inappropriations showing?

twenty8

Here is the official statement from Bord Gais.
http://alturl.com/rq48

There is little chance that this data can be used by anyone. Chances are that the laptop was robbed by kids and all data deleted within hours and then the laptop sold on. I am sure that Bord Gais said nothing because if they had then the thieves may become aware that they had something valuable and then an entirely different issue would have happened.

Keep an eye on your account and if something happens then contact your back straight away. But very unlikely that anything would. Bord Gais are very responsible and I am sure they have more of the facts than we have.

skywalker_208

this is a disgrace!
anyone know how to switch to airtricity?

I cannot understand why all these companies and government departments have this kind of information on laptops! Why isnt this information stored on servers in secure comms rooms?????

Max Power1

heres the link to Airtricity change over site

airtricity

Davy

Max Power1 wrote: »

heres the link to Airtricity change over site

airtricity

it would be very interesting to see how many actually switch over because of this. Chances are fraud transactions wont happen but no one likes taking chances when it comes to there cash

Guy:Incognito

horse7 wrote: »

well they have your name ,address,bank sort code,bank account,and with these details they can set up a direct debit from your bank account,and i dont see board gais covering the bill.theres noting on the board gais web site.and there are no statements from them saying they will cover any illegal d.debits.by the way the laptops were stolen 2 weeks ago.

and yet people managed to shop for years with cheques.

Every cheque had the account number and sort code plus the persons name (and a copy of their signature) . A lot of places took contact details too. details


People nowadays have this belief that once someone gets a hold of your 8 digit account number, they have the keys to your life.

jor el

skywalker_208 wrote: »

I cannot understand why all these companies and government departments have this kind of information on laptops! Why isnt this information stored on servers in secure comms rooms?????

That's what I thought too, after the last few incidents of laptops being stolen. There shouldn't be details of anyone, let alons 75,000 customers, on a laptop. There's absolutely no need for it what soever.

Stekelly wrote: »

and yet people managed to shop for years with cheques.

And they give out their banking details, address and signature to strangers on the street just because they have a charity ID badge that I could print and laminate with my €12 Aldi laminator. Oh and a clip-board and high-vis jacket, every con-man's best friend. You can do anything as long as you have a high-vis jacket and a clip-board.

stepbar

God people get excited over awful stupid things :rolleyes:

TheDriver

Wonder what airtricity have done with the stolen laptops..............(thinking some more conspiracy theories here....)

Fnergg

I find it incredible that Bord Gais with all their purported media savvy attributes - their presence on YouTube, their Twitter account, their courting of the Irish blogosphere in the lead up to their launch into the domestic market back in Ferbruary, etc., - should have been so STUPID - as to have confidential details of 75, 000 (!!!!) customers on an unencrypted laptop.

On a bloody laptop! What the hell was the data doing there? And unencrypted!

Clearly, there is a wide gulf - nay, a veritable chasm - between their marketing froth and the reality on the ground.

I wouldn't trust those bozos as far as I could throw them.

Regards,

Fnergg

Mickelodian

ER.... bank details ehh?

"The incident occurred early on Friday 5 June when the Bord Gáis offices in Dublin and a number of adjacent offices were burgled."


and

"the information did relate in part to people who recently switched over from the ESB in the company's Big Switch " From RTE.ie

okay....erm... would that be credit card details? and perhaps even the three numbers on the back of the card?... or are we talking just bank account details?

Do Bord gas take credit cards on their website? If they do are a large chunk of 75,000 people now canceling their credit cards?

If I had used that big switch I'd be hoping my next credit card bill didn't include a nice expensive bag of diamonds or something....bought while presumedly in amsterdam...

What were a copy of 75,000 customers bank details doing on a bloody laptop anyway?... are they carrying our stuff around on usb sticks too??? Man....lets hope those burglars are just after a quick resell for drugs or something...

Kensington

Certainly, it needs to be seriously looked as to why customer details are stored on a laptop, never mind unencrypted or the fact there were 75,000 customers!!! You would have thought after the bank fiasco last year, every company would have made it priority number one to clamp down on security. The banks have learned from their mistakes with a complete overhaul of laptop security and how data is stored. Confidential data should never be stored on laptops or USB keys, but encrypted on back-end servers. Anyone requiring access should then be able to securely tunnel in remotely and access the data securely.

However, there is no need for anyone to be resorting to drastic actions like closing / cancelling either direct debits or accounts.

twenty8

There is no credit card data - it would all be bank account information as someone said was always on the bottom of cheques!!

Not sure if Airtricity is completely innocent either - did they not have an incident a while back where all their customers data was available on their website??

partyatmygaff

Whats the fuss about like?

Lets say I work as a sales rep for whatever and get paid by cheque. I ask for Name address phone etc

So now I have their full name, their address, their phone and their sort code and bank A/C no.

Does this mean I can waltz up into their bank and make a withdrawl from their account?

No


An A/C no and sort code is quite surprisingly not enough to make a withdrawl.