If you want to wipe the egg off your face, make sure you do it properly.
As you may have read, PA Consulting is in the sh1t just now after a massive data security balls-up. The firm was working on an assignment for the Home Office and managed to lose a USB memory stick that contained the personal details of 84,000 criminals. The Home Office has since suspended its contract.
Data security is a hot topic after recent balls-ups, as PA knows only too well. Like other consulting firms, it no doubt earns tidy fees warning companies about the perils of slack data controls. In fact, it published a paper recently called "Are you exposed?" on this very problem. Amusingly, it warned that:
"...the security failings that lead to breaches usually happen much lower down the organization – by a junior employee, or a contractor unaware of security procedures."
Contractors like....er.... PA Consulting?
Rather embarrassing for the firm to have this knocking around its website, I reckon. Could that be why if you Google for this report the relevant page on the PA site asks for a log-in ID and password. Google just returns a tantalising summary.
I wonder if PA have put the password in place recently, to stop anyone reading the report? Surely not. But if so, they've made a rather cack-handed attempt at covering their tracks, as all you need to do is click on the link to the cached version of the page, and Google will give you the full report.
Thanks, Google.
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