HMRC data breach affects 25 million

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As well, from now on, the NAO and others looking for large sets of private data must work from HMRC offices in order to reduce the risk of a breach.

Greg Day, a security analyst at McAfee, said that any organisation should have technology in place which wouldn't allow such private data to be moved to insecure storage. He also questioned whether the disks were encrypted, as most users create easily-cracked passwords.

Day said Darling's speech focused more on bank security than that of individuals, and that the information lost would be enough for someone to create a new account. He warned people to keep a close watch on their own accounts and to be wary of new account notices.

Indeed, he said many people may feel safer simply closing their accounts. "A certain percentage of the public will feel that way," Day said. "How long will they need to monitor for?"

"The public has the right to confidence in how their data is stored and being used... this doesn't instil confidence," Day said.

During the parliamentary session, members of the house called for Darling to follow Gray's lead and resign, while others said this showed the government was incapable of being trusted to securely run the identify cards scheme.

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