MoD laptop losses continue

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Ministry of Defence (MoD) laptops are continuing to go missing in action as Government figures show losses of 340 computers worth over £600,000.

Since a scathing report in 2008, MoD technology data losses have continued. Apart from the laptops, staff have also misplaced or had stolen 593 CDs, DVDs and floppy disks, 215 USB sticks, 96 removable hard drives and 13 mobile phones.

More worrying than the hardware losses is the fact that four in five of the missing devices held unencrypted data and only 25 of the missing computers have been recovered.

The Ministry’s performance came to light following a Freedom of Information request filed by technology consultants at Lewis Communications. The response showed that the MoD is by far the worst offender but that other ministries are also losing data.

The total losses amount to 518 laptops, 932 data storage devices, 131 BlackBerrys and iPhones and 104 other mobile devices. Lewis Communications estimates the cost to the taxpayer at £781,453.

In 2008, Sir Edmund Burton compiled a report that highlighted lapses in security at the MoD following the loss of a Royal Navy laptop containing personal details of 600,000 armed forces recruits and applicants.

At that time, the MoD admitted that 658 laptops had been stolen and 89 lost in the previous four years. This is an average of 164 losses per year compared with the new average of 170 per year.

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