Government Online Services Shutdown

The Government Gateway was shutdown yesterday after it was revealed the provider of the service, Atos Origin, lost a memory stick containing user names, passwords and the source code of the website.

The Government Gateway system enables businesses and individuals to gain access to hundreds of services from 50 Whitehall departments, from self-assessment tax returns, VAT returns, pension entitlements, rural payments and child benefit.

Users who attempted to log on to the Gateway yesterday were met by the message: ‘The Government Gateway is temporarily offline. We apologise for any inconvenience. Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.’

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions, which owes the site, said ‘Passwords are hidden using an industry standard technique which is difficult to break. We believe the risk of someone accessing personal data in this way is extremely low.’ She added that the step-by-step guide to the system contained in a text file was a ‘low risk’ and the source code was old; it would be ‘impossible to intercept details of transactions’ and divert money to another account.

A spokesman for Atos Origin said ‘Atos Origin is working very closely with the Government and the police.  The company takes full responsibility for this loss and will discipline the individual involved.’

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