This is hardly the type of attention that Sir Richard Branson wanted for his company.  Virgin Media, the portion of the larger Virgin Group that controls the entertainment and communication fields, reported a data breach the other day.  In all, over 3,000 customers of the company have been affected.  Details are still pending, although the extent of the breach is not expected to increase beyond the original 3,000 people whose personal information was contained on a CD.

The CD, unfortunately, was not encrypted.  No one for Virgin Media has come forward to explain why this sensitive material was not secured with any extra features.  It seems that burning the data to a CD goes against company policy.  In previously press releases issued by the company, they have emphasized that all private data is transferred only through secure FTP sites.  No one is sure if their policy has changed or if this is an isolated incident.  More information will be provided as it is given to the media.

The 3,000 people affected by the theft were involved with the Carphone Warehouse stores.  The material covered from January 2008 to the present.  Originally, the breach was discovered on May 29, although it was only announced today.  No one is sure why there was such a delay in notifying the public about the incident.  A company spokesman has said that they are working closely with the Information Commissioners’ Office to alert everyone affected.  Those who are concerned about their personal security should keep an eye out for letters or emails detailing future steps.  Virgin Media has promised to take care of any issues that arise from the problem.

With this not being the first data breach in England, more and more people are investing in ID theft services.  These subscription based companies, such as Lifelock, monitor the credit reports of all three companies, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.  Whenever a new credit card application or loan is opened in someone’s name, Lifelock is there to ensure the credit activity is legitimate.

According to the spokesman, the CD contained names and personal addresses.  No other information was on the disc, which has some experts optimistic that no damage will be done to people’s personal credit records.  As a result of the breach, Virgin Media has said they will reinvestigate all of their current security measures and make appropriate changes.  They are dedicated to making sure that their customers continue to have safe transactions and confidence in the company.  More and more companies have turned to electronic data transfers to alleviate this type of information breach.  The same can be said for the encryption practices and security measures that are continually updated to meet the current threat levels.