Marks and Spencers has written to 26,000 employees telling they may be at risk of identity theft after a laptop containing salary details, addresses, dates of birth, National Insurance and phone numbers of staff was stolen.
The news comes just days after IT PRO reported a laptop stolen from a hospital in Cornwall.
The retailer warned workers they were at risk if criminals accessed and used the data on the laptop, which was stolen from a printing firm on 18 April. The printers were given the laptop with the staff details could it could print letters informing M&S employees about pension changes.
Staff affected by the theft have been offered free credit checks by the retailer. It is thought that the laptop was stolen for its own value rather than the information stored on it.
Experts said that regardless of the motive for the theft, if the data was only protected by a simple password, data could easily be compromised.
"Staff and customers are increasingly concerned about the possibility of identity theft, and the offending company suffers not only high financial costs, but also risks enormous damage to their brand in the aftermath of a breach," said Jamie Cowper, European marketing director at PGP.
