EastEnders laptop theft highlights folly of non-encrypted data

24 Nov 09

Reports that a laptop containing the Christmas scripts for BBC TV’s flagship soap EastEnders has been stolen could cost the corporation dearly.

By Brian Sims

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation, scripts for the massively popular Christmas editions of EastEnders were stolen late last week in a burglary at the home of one of the soap’s writers.

The programme’s executive producer Diederick Santer has, not surprisingly, said on the broadcaster's official website that he’s keen to recover the laptop which “contains the twists and turns of our exciting EastEnders’ Christmas”.

Apparently, the show’s stars destroyed their own scripts after filming seasonal scenes such that they could minimise the risk of leaks to the press. Not for the first time, this year’s specials will focus on dramatic events in the Queen Victoria pub on the East End’s fictional Albert Square.

The festive double bill will, as always, be screened on Christmas Day. This tactic often captures the soap’s biggest audience of the year. In 2007, for example, EastEnders’ Christmas Special (in which the long-running affair between Max Branning and daughter-in-law Stacey Slater) was revealed, and attracted 14 million viewers. It was the most-watched programme of the year.

Beware of laptop theft

“While it sounds an amusing tale, the fact that the laptop was stolen during a burglary brings the theft of the laptop firmly into focus,” said Paul Huntingdon, director of Credant in the UK. “It shows that laptop thefts can occur anywhere and at any time, and that companies need to be aware of this issue.”

Huntingdon continued: “The danger here is that the plotline for the Christmas episodes will leak out before the festive period and reduce the soap’s viewing figures, almost certainly to the benefit of other broadcasters.”

What’s potentially worse is that, if the scripts do fall into the wrong party’s hands – perhaps due to the plotlines being posted on the Internet – then a third party could profit from the situation, without any money going to the BBC’s coffers.

“Imagine,” explained Huntingdon, “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.”

According to the Credant director, more than anything this episode shows how a failure to encrypt the data on a laptop that’s subsequently stolen can have potential direct and indirect revenue consequences.

Threats of legal action

“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,” said Huntingdon.

“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. That’s no bad thing at all,” he added.