Skip to main content
BBC NEWS / UK
Graphics VersionBBC Sport Home
News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

19:49 GMT, Sunday, 20 July 2008 20:49 UK

MoD admits another laptop stolen

Laptop

The Ministry of Defence has confirmed another laptop containing "sensitive information" was stolen while an official checked out of a hotel.

An MoD spokesman said the theft from the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool on Thursday brought the total number of laptops stolen to 659.

On Friday the MoD admitted that 658 of its laptops had been stolen over the past four years.

The details were disclosed in response to questions tabled in Parliament.

Police investigation

In the latest laptop theft on Thursday, the official had placed the laptop on the ground at the Liverpool hotel when it was stolen, the MoD spokesman said.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police confirmed officers were investigating the theft. No other details were released.

The department insists its policies are "generally fit for purpose", and said all data losses were fully investigated.

Previously the MoD had confessed to 347 laptops being stolen between 2004 and 2007, but Defence Secretary Des Browne was forced to issue revised figures after "anomalies in the reporting process" were discovered.

The official total is now 659 laptops stolen, with another 89 lost. Just 32 laptops have been recovered.

In a separate response, ministers said 121 of the department's USB memory sticks had been taken or misplaced since 2004.

Some 26 of those went this year - including three which contained information classified as "secret" and 19 which were "restricted".

Last month the MoD was heavily criticised by a review of its data procedures which warned that basic security discipline had been forgotten and there was "little awareness" of the danger of losing information.



E-mail this to a friend
Related to this story:
MoD admits loss of secret files (18 Jul 08 |  UK )
Laptop with patient files stolen (18 Jul 08 |  Tayside and Central )
NHS trusts lose confidential data (17 Jul 08 |  Wales politics )
Blears PC loss - officials blamed (17 Jun 08 |  UK Politics )
Previous cases of missing data (15 Jun 08 |  UK )
More secret files found on train (15 Jun 08 |  UK )
Customer data 'needs protection' (21 Apr 08 |  Technology )
Thousands hit by breaches of data (12 Mar 08 |  Scotland )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Ministry of Defence
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



SEARCH BBC NEWS: 

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia | UK | Business | Health | Science & Environment | Technology | Entertainment | Also in the news | Have Your Say |
UK Contents:  England | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales | UK Politics | Education | Magazine

NewsWatch | Notes | Contact us | About BBC News | Profiles | History

^ Back to top | BBC Sport Home | BBC Homepage | Contact us | Help | ©