Irish Examiner view: Accessing data at home is worrisome
There is a concerning question which arises here about the security of information being accessed by people working from home. Picture: Alamy
Readers may have seen reports this week of a case before Macroom District Court — one which dealt with a man who deceived and stole from farmers and rural businesses on the pretext of selling fire safety equipment.
Gardaí told the court that there was a similar pattern of goods being promised and not delivered, and excessive prices being charged. The relatively straightforward nature of the case would be recognisable to readers from 100 years ago, if not further back in time, but that is not the case with another development this week.
We learned that gardaí are preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to a young Cork woman suspected of unlawfully accessing thousands of customer payment accounts while working for a company contracted by the public utility Electric Ireland.
The woman is suspected of supplying credit card details to her boyfriend, who was associated with a transnational criminal gang specialising in fraud, while she was working from home. Gardaí suspect the man took photographs of customer account details from the woman’s computer screen, and the credit card information was then used to commit fraud.
This is a deeply worrying development because it shows the ease with which third parties can access confidential information in this way. A criminal hacking a database may leave a digital footprint which police can track to its source, but it is impossible to prove photographs have been taken of
a computer screen unless those photographs are themselves located.
There is an equally concerning question which arises here about the security of information being accessed by people working from home.
In this particular instance, it appears that it was impossible to police access to highly sensitive information.
One has to wonder now about the security of credit card details and other private data which are shared with reputable companies. In this case, the woman in question was working for a company contracted by Electric Ireland, which leaves that utility with some questions to answer about customer security.
In a wider sense, this case may also signal a change in how companies view remote work. Though widely seen as beneficial to workers, concerns about data safety from workers on devices at home will only increase as cyberattacks and online scams become more attractive to criminals.
Dysfunction on Mardyke Walk
There is no shortage of examples of the chaotic housing and development system in Ireland, but it’s rare enough to see two glaring instances of dysfunction come to prominence within a couple of days of each other.
Yesterday, this newspaper confirmed that the Prism, the €20m glass office block proposed for a site near Cork’s bus station, looks finished as a project.
The planning permission granted in 2019 has lapsed. When the developers sought a five-year extension, it was refused by Cork City Council.
As noted in these pages, it is not clear what the implications of that refusal are for a proposed hotel project at nearby Custom House Quay by the same developer, Kevin O’Sullivan, but there is surely serious doubt now about that project proceeding.
On that note, it was encouraging to read of work beginning on Mardyke Walk, near University College Cork, where a new residential development will include 14 dwellings across a series of joined three-storey blocks over a raised podium.
New housing is always welcome in the city, even if there may be valid questions about car parking and access for this development, but the Mardyke Walk site is one with a long and tangled history.
The original application to demolish existing houses on the site and to build an apartment block was submitted in 2003.
Since then, the plot of land has changed hands more than once. In total, there have been five different planning applications submitted to develop the site.
It is difficult to believe that it took two decades and five planning applications before building commenced on this site, which is just one quarter of an acre in area.
However, when explanations are sought for our current problems in housing and development, it is a perfect illustration of the institutional lack of urgency which is holding back progress in this area.
When observers say the planning system is not fit for purpose, Mardyke Walk is the perfect illustration of that system’s inadequacy.
Toy Show time
Households all over Ireland have different ways of marking the start of the Christmas season, and no doubt for many The Late Late Toy Show is the event that truly kicks off the festive countdown.
It is now something of a secular feast, showcasing an array of toys and gifts as well as the children who demonstrate them.
Patrick Kielty has shown himself worthy of hosting what is one of the most eagerly-anticipated TV events of the year, while the generosity of viewers makes the annual charity appeal a huge success for the important cause highlighted.
Remember the Ruane family this evening: Their daughter Saoirse inspired all of Ireland with her courage when appearing on The Late Late Toy Show back in 2020. She helped to raise millions of euro for charity before sadly passing away earlier this year at the age of 12 after a long illness. Now her family face into the first Christmas without her.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.