Some 66,000 Australian Institute of Company Directors members and clients had their information stolen after a computer was stolen with their personal information stored inside.

The theft of the computer last weekend included personal information of members such as names, addresses, phone numbers and the members numbers. Police are investigating the theft which occurred during a power outage. AICD chief executive John Colvin reassured members in a letter that the stolen computer did not contain data about credit cards, e-mail addresses or passwords or banking details.

Members of the organization include some of Australia's largest public and private companies as well as private family businesses.

The stolen machine was part of the organization's customer relationship management (CRM) upgrade and was used as test machine. Unfortunately it used real personal data. AICD is confident that the computer can't be compromised as the machine is protected although the data isn't encrypted.

Mr. Colvin asked the members to be on the lookout for any suspicious calls or other communications. He said that although there was a low level of risk of the date being used for fraudulent purposes, members should still be wary.

"Please let us know immediately if you have any concerns or suspicions," he said.

"While the information was protected by a number of premises security and electronic data security measures, we are actively reviewing the ways in which these could be further improved."

Colvin stressed that the AICD's other data and systems were not compromised in any way. Any members or clients who may have concerns should call the AICD on 1300 66 44 63.