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From: John Longman[/O=MMS/OU=EXCHANGE ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP.
(FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=JON.LONGMANS812E2348-8653-4C86-8A94-
S5ESAA1E4A6F 1]
Sent: Thur 15/07/2010 12:18:12 PM (UTC)
To: Lisa Allen[f
Subject: FW: Duplication of Transaction Records in ARQ Returns
Attachment: ARQ Report.xis
Attachment: Detailed process for removal of duplicate transactions.doc
From: Jane M Owen
Sent: 02 July 2010 16:43
To: John Longman
Subject: Fw: Duplication of Transaction Records in ARQ Returns
Jon
FYI - as discussed
Regards
Jane
Jane Owen
Security Team Advisor
Security Team, Post Office Ltd
Royal Mail, Clippers House, 3rd Floor, Clippers Quay, SALFORD. M50 3NW
GRO-
@ Post Office HR Help
2 PRINT
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privileged information. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are
not the intended recipient please contact me by reply email and destroy all copies of the original
message.
i Postline
seo
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ceoee Forwarded by Jane M Owen/e/POSTOFFICE on 02/07/2010 16:40 -----
Jane M Owen
To: Jason G
02/07/2010 16:30 Collins/e/POSTOFFICE
Andrew
Daley/e/POSTOFFICE@
ce: Mark
Dinsdale/e/POSTOFFICE@; i
Subject: Fw: Duplication of Transaction
Records in ARQ Returns
Dear Both
Please see email below from Penny Thomas.
Mark, Alan Simpson and myself have had a conference call today to look at potential problems that this is
likely to cause. Firstly the suggested workaround will need to be put to our Legal Team and until that has been
agreed any further ARQ requests, including those which have already been submitted, will be suspended.
There are 2 cases currently with the court - West Byfleet and Porters Avenue and I will speak to Lisa and Jon
about these as we need to know what in the way of ARQs and the corresponding statements have been
presented to court. In addition I have identified the following offices from the casework spreadsheet as ones
that potentially could have already had information presented to the court. Could you please confirm whether
or not this is the case and also whether there are any that I have missed as Fujitsu will need to take corrective
action.
Riverhead 130/948 New Cheltenham 263/511
Fleetville 113/033
Carryduff 186/704
Kirkoswald 250/410
Addiscombe Exchange 055/013
Tudor Parade 189/116
Sidcup 134/014
Stourbridge 150/208
Tresco 386/555
Essex Road 201/004
Rainford 300/434
Rinkfield 252/418
Castleton 234/424
Melsonby 279/309
I realise that this is a lot to digest but if you need to speak to me for any clarification before you forward to
your teams then please give me a ring. Also can you let me know if you think of any further problems that this
could cause.
Regards
Jane
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Jane Owen
Security Team Advisor
Security Team, Post Office Ltd
Royal Mail, Clippers House, 3rd Floor, Clippers Quay, SALFORD. M50 3NW
@ Post Office HR Help
2 PRINT
Confidential Information:
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and
privileged information. Any unauthorised review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are
not the intended recipient please contact me by reply email and destroy all copies of the original
message.
— Forwarded by Jane M Owen/e/POSTOFFICE on 02/07/2010 14:31 -----
i. GRO} To: Sue Lowther/e/POSTOFFICE, Mark
Dinsdale/e/POSTOFFICE, Jane M
30/06/2010 13:33 Owen/e/POSTOFFICE
ce:
Subject: Duplicatation of Transaction
Records in ARQ Returns
Sue/Mark/Jane
We have identified that a number of recent ARQ returns contain duplicated transaction records.
With Horizon counters, the mechanism by which Data is audited has always worked on the
principle that it is acceptable to audit the same data more than once — in particular if in doubt as to
whether or not it has been previously audited successfully.
The Mechanism used on Horizon to retrieve the data took this into account and only presented one
instance of such duplicate data in the ARQ extracts.
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However it has recently been noticed that the HNG-X retrieval mechanism does not remove such
duplicates and a quick scan of the ARQs provided to Post Office Ltd since the change to the new
system indicates that about 35% of the ARQs might contain some duplicate data. A Peak has been
raised to enhance the extraction toolset and remove such duplicate data in the future. However
until the fix is developed, tested and deployed, there is a possibility that data is duplicated.
The reliable way to identify a duplicate transaction is to use the <Num> attribute that is used to
generate the unique sequence numbers. This attribute is not currently included in the Excel
version of ARQ data that has been passed to Post Office Ltd in the past. This will be included in all
future ARQs until the problem is fixed. A workaround, using the <NUM> attribute is suggested, and
a detailed process is attached.
Note that we have identified a scenario with Postal Services transactions where multiple, identical
mails items are accepted (ie the Quantity button is set to greater than 1), but Postage Labels are
printed for each individual item. This results in separate transactions being generated for each
item, which are identical in the ARQ extracts (there is another minor difference in the raw data
apart from the <Num> attribute, but this different attribute is not currently included in the ARQ
extract).
I’ve put together a spreadsheet detailing affected ARQs, which is also attached.
Mark/Jane I’ve tried to call you both this morning but I understand you are both tied up. Please call
and we can discuss.
Kind regards
Penny/Tom
Penny Thomas Tom Lillywhite
Security Analyst, Customer Services Principal Security Consultant
Information & Security Services
Fujitsu Services Retail & Royal Mail Group Account
Lovelace Road, Bracknell, Berks RG12 8SN
Tel
Mob}
Fax:
E-Ma
Web: http:7/Gk fujitsucom
Fujitsu Services Limited, Registered in England no 96056, Registered Office 22, Baker Street, London W1U 3BW.
This E-mail is only for the use of its intended recipient. Its contents are subject to a duty of confidence and
may be privileged. Fujitsu Services does not guarantee that this E-mail has not been intercepted and
amended or that virus-free.
(See attached file: Detailed process for removal of duplicate transactions.doc)(See attached file: ARQ
Report.xls)