None of the four laptops stolen from Bord Gáis last year - one of which contained personal data on 93,000 customers - has been recovered yet, a Joint Oireachtas Committee heard earlier today.
Chief executive of Bord Gáis John Mullins told the Oireachtas Committee on Natural Resources that he could not give “100 per cent assurance” that the personal information on the stolen laptop will not fall into the wrong hands in the future.
However, there is no evidence that anyone has accessed the data since the incident, he said.
One of the laptops stolen last June contained details such as bank account numbers and home addresses of people who had switched their electricity supply from the ESB as part of Bord Gáis’s “big switch” campaign. Contrary to the company’s policy, this laptop had not been encrypted.
The State-owned energy supplier was advised by gardaí that this was an "opportunistic" burglary, and “not someone looking for data", Mr Mullins said.
Bord Gáis has taken a number of steps to improve its information security systems, including the encryption of all laptops and PCs, and staff awareness training.