EastEnders Christmas double bill scripts stolen 
(23/11/2009)
The BBC has reported that a laptop containing the Christmas scripts for BBC TV's long-running EastEnders soap has been stolen in a burglary at the home of one of the soap's writers. The festive double bill will be screened on Christmas Day.
"Whilst it sounds an amusing tale, the fact that the laptop was stolen during a burglary brings the theft of the laptop firmly into focus. It shows that laptop thefts can occur anywhere and at any time - and that companies need to be aware of this issue," said Paul Huntingdon, Credant Technologies' UK director.
"The danger here is that the plotline for the Christmas episodes will leak out before Christmas and reduce the soap's viewing figures, almost certainly to the benefit of other broadcasters," he added.
What is potentially worse, he went on to say, is that, if the scripts do fall into the wrong party's hands - perhaps by being posted on the Internet - then a third party could profit from the situation, without any money going to the BBC coffers.
Imagine, he explained , if this script loss had occurred to ITV and the Christmas scripts to Coronation Street or Emmerdale were leaked - this could cost ITV real revenue in advertising terms, as the advertisers would almost certainly demand some of their expensive Christmas ad payments back.
More than anything, the Credant director said, this shows how a failure to encrypt the data on a laptop that is subsequently stolen can have potential direct and indirect revenue consequences. "It remains to be seen what the BBC will do about the script losses in the longer term, but I wouldn't be surprised to see threats of legal action flying around if the scripts do find their way into the public
domain," he said.
"And a legal action that claims compensation for a failure to protect a laptop's data could be very interesting from a security perspective. It might even wake up a few corporate minds who have ignored the security issues with portable PCs, and that's no bad thing," he added.
Related topics: Encryption Mobile and Wireless Security
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