The Leveson Inquiry has heard from private investigation companies and mobile network security executives this morning.Mark Hughes from Vodafone, Adrian Gorham, O2 ,and James Blendis from Everything Everywhere, owner of Orange and T-Mobile, were asked about the potential for private data breaches.Hughes said security measures in the industry had changed following the 2006 investigation into the activities of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.Gorham added: “We certainly were not aware of the weakness that was being exploited prior to the investigation, that was completely news to us, and I believe the industry, and it was a that point that we went up to the next level of security... prior to that I had no evidence that voicemail was being abused in any way.”All the representatives said networks now restricted the use of easily guessable PIN. Blendis said customer service agents undergo training to combat the use of illegal blagging technquies.He added: “We actually also give customers the option to switch off remote access [to their voicemail]. If they don't use it and don't want it we’ll enable it to be switched off, so it can't be hacked, essentially.”The confirmed total of phone hacking victims was 49 for Vodafone, under 40 at O2, 45 at Orange and 71 for T-Mobile.Hughes said victims had been informed in January 2012 following police advice.He said: “We were expressly told not to contact our customers [sooner] as we may prejudice the police investigation.”“With the benefit of hindsight it would have been much better to have a level of clarity with the police much earlier so that we could tell our customers what the issue was.”Blendis said his customers were told in July 2011.He added: “I think it's highly likely that if we had simply contacted everyone that we had as a potential victim, we may well have tipped off [hackers].”Gorham said O2 customers had been informed at the time of the original investigation in 2006.Hughes said 13 investigations at Vodafone had resulted in disciplinary warnings or dismissal since 2009. Fifty four O2 staff had been disciplined, prosecuted or dismissed since 2003, and five employees at Everything Everywhere in the past five years.Next to the stand was Tony Imossi, president of the Association of British Investigators, an organisation with 500 members.He told the inquiry he had personally tracked down private investigator Derek Webb, who gave evidence to the inquiry last year.Webb, a former police officer, had told Lord Justice Leveson he was a licensed investigator.Imossi said: “I took it upon myself to track him down and speak with him, and I did quite recently. It turns what he actually meant as that he had membership of the IPI (Institute of Professional Investigators). It wasn't a licence at all.”He said the ABI’s track record was very good and members rarely fall foul of the law, but said the decision to introduce mandatory legal insurance had been a tough change of culture.He added: “It was part of the association’s view that as part of our cultural move to professionalise the industry and really make them more responsible and accountable, that this require would give confidence to the outside world that we were the good guys.”Imossi said privacy concerns over hacking and blagging were an ongoing issue.He said: "The mere fact that we get asked to organise counter measures for suspected bugging problems would indicate that certainly something is going on."He added: “I can't for the life of me even today think why an investigator...would take such a risk, or what the benefit he would gain to his investigations by intercepting a voicemail. I can understands the value it has to the media because of course they are looking at innocent people who will innocently leave messages, perhaps even of a sensitive nature, on a voicemail.”He said he was surprised by the extensive practices revealed in the Information Commissioner’s 2006 report, which he called a document of “shock and awe”.Imossi added: "My understanding of what happened with the mobile telephones interception was that it was being used by, obviously illegally, but it was being used as a norm tool of first resort."He said the ABI was working to provide a training academy for journalists, and the body supported a move forward to regulating the industry under statue.Leveson agreed and said it was difficult to see how cohesive self-regulation could be established for industry.David Palmer of the IPI, also a serving police officer, was next to give evidence.He confirmed Imossi’s claims about Derek Webb and said he was seeking to verify the extent of his membership to the body.He added: “All I can tell you from our record check today is that he has not been a member for thereto four, possibly five years.”Palmer said he was not surprised by phone hacking and blagging practices.He said: “It's not altogether surprising that that sort if thing happened... The fact that people are out there conducting unlawful activities in the name of private investigators isn't a surprise to me.”He said he also supported future regulation of the industry with statutory backing.Tony Smith, vice chairman of the World Association of Professional Investigators, a not for profit organisation, said the profession was in dissarray and needs strong regulation.He said he was “amazed” by the extent of phone hacking but admitted it was known about in the industry.He added: “We all knew it was going on... it just seemed to be the first point of action for some people.”Smith said the media used private investigators for locating individuals, finding out personal information and untangling company groups.He said: “If it’s a politician who may be taking bribes or maybe having an affair, where he can be pressured in some way - that is a grey area.”William Butler, chief executive of the Security Industry Authority, which regulates door staff, security guards and wheel-clampers, said private investigations were not a designated activity and did not fall under the body’s regulation.He said there was a willingness from the SIA and industry bodies to include investigations.He said: “"My personal view is theres a willingness to move forward and to actually get private investigations into regulation...with the best will in the world that's not something that can happen quickly."I think it's difficult to find anybody who doesn't think this is a good idea and something which should happen."He added: “I would not want to move forward now without the benefits of the recommendation of this inquiry.”Butler will continue to give evidence later this afternoon.