Rashid Rauf, the British suspect in an alleged plot to blow up passenger aircraft over the Atlantic, escaped from police guards in Pakistan by slipping out of the back door of a mosque he had been allowed to pray in, police said yesterday.
Rauf’s breakout has deeply embarrassed the Pakistani government, which permitted a court to consider his extradition to Britain in connection with the murder in 2002 of his maternal uncle.
– The Guardian
The government yesterday revealed another disturbing loss of citizens’ data when the transport secretary disclosed that a computer disc had gone missing that contained the records of more than 3 million driving test applicants, including their names, home addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers.
The disc was lost from a “secure store” in Iowa in the US midwest by private firm Pearson Driving Assessments in May, but this was not relayed either to Westminster or to the police.
– The Guardian
A chief constable has checked security at his police force’s headquarters by scaling scaffolding and climbing through an upstairs window.
Richard Brunstrom, 53, staged the “break-in” at North Wales Police headquarters in Old Colwyn, Gwynedd, because he was concerned that a GB pound 3.4 million refurbishment had left it vulnerable. Mr Brunstrom clambered up the scaffolding to demonstrate to fellow officers the need to tighten security. It is not known whether he was wearing safety equipment or how many of the building’s four storeys he scaled before finding an open window.
– The Times
Norwich Union, the UK’s largest insurer, has been fined GB pound 1.26m by the Financial Services Authority for failing to protect its customers against fraud.
The fine is the biggest ever issued by the City regulator in relation to security lapses and fraud. It said weakness in NU’s systems and controls at its UK life insurance arm allowed fraudsters to cash in 74 policies, worth a total of GB pound 3.3m in 2006. A further 558 customers were put at risk.
– The Telegraph
