MoD loses 87 USB drives holding classified data

The government has confirmed that the Ministry of Defence has lost no less than 87 USB storage devices containing confidential data.

The number, from a total of 121 USB storage devices lost by the MoD since 2004, was revealed after Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather along with Conservative MPs Liam Fox and Mark Hoban posed parliamentary questions on the matter in the Commons.

“It seems that this government simply cannot be trusted with keeping sensitive information safe. It is frightening to think that secret MoD information can be lost or stolen,” Teather said in a statement.

" When different departments are losing sensitive data left, right and centre it is no wonder that people have lost confidence in Gordon Brown and Labour.”

In a written answer, defence minister Bob Ainsworth also said that nine PDAs had been stolen and three lost from the department between 2003 and the end of June this year.

The admission is the latest in a series of data losses at the MoD, which have included losing laptops containing sensitive information.

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