Whenever a gas bill drops onto the Gombeen Manor doormat, you will hear the exclamation “gosh!!!” reverberating around the corridors. Well, maybe not “gosh!!!”, but something a bit more expressive. Gas bills are very expensive at the Manor, you see.However, “gosh!!!" is quite appropriate - even if lacking in some impact. “Bord Gais” is the makey-up Gaelic name for our semi-state gas board, and “Gais”, you see, is pronounced “gosh!!!”.
“Gosh!!!” (or something more expressive) is what many of the company’s customers exclaimed this morning when they heard news that Bord Gosh!!! - sorry, Gais - “leaked” their confidential bank details to third parties, thanks to what can only be mind-numbing incompetence.
It seems there was a break-in at the company’s offices on June 5th, during which four laptops were stolen. One of these laptops contained the unencrypted bank details of 75,000 customers who had recently switched from the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) to the gas company to avail of the latter’s “Big Switch” campaign, which offered to supply gas and electricity in one package.
That’s bad enough, you may think. But the truly stunning thing is that it took 12 days for the public to become informed of the at-risk status of their bank accounts, and even then only through media reports. Its seems that Bord Gais is now advising that customers check their accounts, presumably to see if there is anything left in them.
Customers can expect an official letter from Bord Gais to drop onto their doormats sometime next week “informing” them of the situation.
Well, we are taking semi-state body here, after all.
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2 comments:
One wonders why they insist on downloading their data when it should be kept online on a secure server where it can be accessed and worked on via security passwords etc. That is the real question they need to answer.
Two thoughts on this toppic, GM:
1. It's a real shame that it takes them 12 days to tell everybody (and it would take even longer, if we wouldn't have been informed on breakingnews this morning)
2. 75.000 NON-encrypted bank details from customers on one lap-top? Oh my god, what a trust in the person sitting in front of it, as well... For sure in Excel or so, likely to be hacked via Internet or to be forwarded with E-Mail.
Seems kinda strange to me.
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