New measures are needed to protect the public against identity theft afterit emerged that hundreds of customers' financial details could have been compromised.
Hackers are believed to have gained access to the details by breaking into the database of a major retailer. The Labour Party has called for the organisation to be identified and urged the Government to seek a full audit of existing security, by the data Protection Commissioner and the Financial Services Regulator.
The latest security breach is just one of a number in recent times.
"In March it was disclosed that a laptop containing the records of more than 170,000 blood donors had been stolen in New York. There have been a series of thefts of bank laptops containing the financial records and personal details of tens of thousands of customers," said the Labour Party TD for Cork South Central, Ciaran Lynch.
"However, the latest breach is one of the most serious yet as the breach appears to have taken place several months ago but was only determined in the past few days. Even if customers are not going to be at a direct financial loss, it will be a matter of huge concern to customers that their personal details were so vulnerable to hackers."
Mr Lynch said the audit should yield some recommendations for improvements to security.
"Conducting transactions online is now a normal part of modern life, but consumers will now need assurances that doing business in this way will not expose them to identify theft and fraud,"he said.
The Irish Payment Servcies Organisation has said that affected customers should not be held liable for the fraudulent transactions.
