DATA DISASTER
PSNI top cop apologises for ‘unacceptable’ data breach as thousands of officers & staff info mistakenly published online
The PSNI has been hit with a major data breach after the names, ranks, locations and other personal information of thousands of officers and staff was mistakenly published online.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd tonight apologised to officers over the major data breach saying: "This is unacceptable.";
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The material was wrongly published on the internet today by the police force in what appears to be human error involving spreadsheet fields.
The data breach occurred after a Freedom of Information response from the mistakenly divulged the information on its employees.
The FoI request had asked for a breakdown of all staff rank and grades.
But as well as releasing a table containing the number of people holding positions such as constable, a spreadsheet was included.
This contained the surnames of more than 10,000 individuals, their initials and other data.
At a press conference in this evening, Mr Todd confirmed that the surname, initial, the rank or grade, the location and the departments of all current officers had been accidentally published.
He said: "In terms of the security for individuals, there's nothing at the moment to suggest there's any immediate security concerns, but we have put actions in place to ensure that if anything does arise we will be aware of that, and then we can mitigate accordingly.
"This is human error. We've looked into the circumstances, we'll continue with our investigation, but the very early considerations are that this is simple human error and the people who have been involved in the process have acted in good faith."
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Detailing how the error occurred he added: "We've responded to that request, which was seeking to understand the total numbers of officers and staff at all ranks and grade across the organisation, and in the response, unfortunately, one of our colleagues has embedded the source data, which informed that request.
"So, what was within that data was the surname, initial, the rank or grade, the location and the departments for each of our current employees across the police service."
Mr Todd said the terrorist threat facing PSNI officers has made news of the extensive data breach "the last thing that anybody in the organisation wants to be hearing".
He added: "I understand that that will be of considerable concern to many of my colleagues and their families indeed, at the moment."
The data has been removed from the internet, but it is not yet clear how long it was available online.
There were 10,799 entries in the database, while the police force currently has 9,276 officers and staff.
It is unclear if the additional entries relate to employees with different contracts or are duplicate entries.
The PSNI has made the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) aware of an "incident".
An ICO spokesperson said: "The Police Service of has made us aware of an incident and we are assessing the information provided."
'PROFOUND CONCERN'
Alliance Leader and former Justice Minister Naomi Long said the sheer scale of the breach is "profoundly concerning".
She said: "This level of data breach is clearly of profound concern, not least to police officers, civilian staff, and their families, who will be feeling incredibly vulnerable and exposed tonight and in the days ahead," said Mrs Long.
"Immediate action must be taken to offer them proper information, support, guidance and necessary reassurances regarding their and their families' security.
"Whilst the personal data has now been removed, once such information has been published online, it leaves an indelible footprint.
'UNCONSCIONABLE'
"That such sensitive information could ever have been held in a manner open to such a breach is unconscionable and will require serious investigation; however, the most urgent issue is supporting those whose security has been compromised.
"Alliance representatives on the Policing Board are seeking an urgent meeting of the Board to be convened with PSNI Senior Management Team to address this unprecedented security breach."
The Police Federation for Northern Ireland called for an "urgent inquiry" into the breach saying it was dismayed and angry about what happened.
Federation chair, Liam Kelly said: "This is a breach of monumental proportions. Even if it was done accidentally, it still represents a data and security breach that should never have happened.
"Rigorous safeguards ought to have been in place to protect this valuable information which, if in the wrong hands, could do incalculable damage."
EMERGENCY MEETING
Ulster Unionist representative on the Policing Board of Northern Ireland Mike Nesbitt called for an emergency meeting of the Policing Board tomorrow.
He said: "It is imperative that officers, staff and their families and friends understand how seriously this breach is being taken and that the board is determined to fulfil its oversight and challenge functions appropriately.
"There are several issues here. First, ensuring those who now feel themselves at risk are given a realistic assessment of the implications of the data breach.
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"Second, why was there no "fail safe" mechanism to prevent this information being uploaded.
"Third, there is the question of whether it was a genuine mistake and here, the principle of innocent until proven guilty applies."
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