Union angry after computer theft

Deloitte says the laptop was protected by a password

Union officials are calling for better security after a laptop with details of 150,000 rail workers was stolen.

The laptop, stolen in September from an auditor which dealt with railway pensions, did not contain bank details.

Mick Whelan, East Midlands representative for the ASLEF union, said security needs to be tightened.

The computer was in a bag taken from an employee of Deloitte, which was the external auditor for the firm that administers railway pension schemes.

The computer did contain names, National Insurance numbers and salaries of Network Rail and British Transport Police pension scheme members.

Mr Whelan said: "We understand the laptop was encrypted so we are hopeful the information cannot be utilised."

People who carry this sort of sensitive information should look after it more carefully Mick Whelan, ASLEF

He said it is likely the laptop was taken by an opportunist thief who wanted to sell it to someone else and could not access the information.

"People who carry this sort of sensitive information should look after it more carefully," he said.

Gerry Doherty, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staff Association, said there should be an inquiry because of the large number of people whose personal details have been lost.

"All we have received are bland assurances that everything is going to be all right."

A Deloitte statement said the laptop was protected by security measures, including start-up password, operating system user ID, password authentication and encryption.

The firm said: "We believe that the likelihood of unauthorised access to the data held on this laptop is remote due to the opportunistic nature of the theft and the security controls."

Deloitte said it had notified police of the theft, which occurred in a public place, but it did not want to say where the theft took place, because it wanted to reduce the chance of the thieves realising what they had taken.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "Deloitte and our pension scheme administrator have made us aware of the security breach caused by the theft of a laptop.

"We have been given assurances that security measures were in place to protect the data but are investigating this incident as a matter of course."