Personally identifiable data on 18 M + found in a parking lot

A USB memory stick containing the source code and passwords to a UK government database of 18 million citizens was found in a bar parking lot, thought to be accidentally left behind by an IT employee.

The source code and internal passwords are believed to be part of the Government Gateway system, which handles a huge range of government services, from jobs and pensions to driver's licensing, to taxes, to agricultural affairs. With the data on the USB stick, the personal data of over 18 million Britons could have been compromised.

No security breach has taken place. However, the UK's Daily Mail was given the USB stick first and informed the Department of Work and Pensions -- the government agency in charge of the site -- that it had been recovered.

The agency then shut down the gateway until the memory stick was returned to Atos Origin, the IT company in charge of the site.The memory stick's accidental loss was eventually attributed to a 29-year-old analyst named Daniel Harrington.

Atos Origin has a large international customer base, and has been contracted to provide infrastructure to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

"The company takes the loss of this device very seriously and we are currently carrying out a full investigation of both the circumstances surrounding its loss and the data content of the stick," the company said in a statement.