The Home Office has admitted that the security of its ID and passport service database <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6111358.html?tag=nl.r23660">has been compromised several times,</A> but denied that remote hackers were responsible. In a response to a parliamentary question at the end of last week, the Home Office said it had had five security breaches in five years, mostly caused by civil service staff. Four of the five incidents involved members of staff accessing the ID and Passport databases for unauthorized purposes. Three used their systems access privileges to conduct checks that were "not connected to their duties", according to an ID and Passport service spokesman, while in the other breach the staff member "misused data he was entitled to access".