Breathtaking Loss

Ovum principal analyst Graham Titterington encapsulated the scale of the event by saying:

"This announcement is breathtaking because of the scale of the loss but not because it is a unique event. Indeed, it is the third major data leakage from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs [HMRC] in just three months."

Titterington continued:

"If the data has fallen into the hands of identity thieves, which is unlikely, the entire national identity ecosystem is undermined for two generations. The UK government and the nation is reduced to hoping that these two CDs are languishing in a rubbish bin somewhere."

Source ZDNet