Bank details on stolen laptop

Bank account numbers, National Insurance numbers, names, addresses and dates of birth were on a laptop stolen from a staff member's car in Belfast earlier this week.

The details are of people who have sought advice from the bureau - but it said they were encrypted and the bureau claimed it was unlikely it could be accessed.

Derek Alcorn, chief executive of CAB Northern Ireland, apologised to all of those whose could be affected.

The client records involves people from the Belfast area and date back for up to four or five years.

He said: "I want to apologise to all of those concerned and potentially affected by this incident. We can say that the data on the computer is protected by three levels of security including a high level of encryption.

"It is highly unlikely that a criminal will be able to access the data, but people who have used Citizens Advice in the Belfast area should check for anything unusual."

Information on the computer varies from customer to customer, but just like the information on CDs listing Child Benefit recipients which were lost by Revenue & Customs recently, it includes name, address, date of birth and national insurance number - and in an unknown number of cases the client's bank account number.

But Mr Alcorn said: "We believe the information, even if it were accessed, would not on its own allow access to a bank account because banks require other security information and passwords."

The theft took place on Wednesday and both the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Information Commissioner were informed.