MoD confirms lack of 280 computers in 18 months

The Ministry of Defence has revealed that 280 computers lost or stolen within 18 months.

According to a Daily Mail report, the Ministry of Defence has revealed that one of the many 280 computers were 188 laptops and 99 desktop, while 72 hard drives, backup tapes 150 and 73 USB memory sticks also disappeared.

Andrew Robathan MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of state in thea Defense Ministry said 21 laptop computers were taken in an incident in Germany and 20 others were reported missing in a separate incident, but later recovered. However, he said that the data contained in the devices is encrypted or had other safety features in place.

Staff in the department also lost 18 mobile phones, BlackBerrys and 194 CDs or 10 DVDs.

Robathan said: â € œThe Ministry of Defence leads to loss and theft of communications and knowledge systems and their associated media storage devices very seriously. We have robust procedures to mitigate these facts and the administration of such losses once they occur.

â € œThe size and complexity of the Defense Ministry, over 250,000 people operating worldwide, from permanent bases in the theater and the frequent movement of equipment between locations in support of operations means that it is almost inevitable that teams go missing.

â € œOur challenge remains to reduce the variety of such incidents and minimize the risk of any incident that led to the lack of information to ensure that devices are encrypted or, if this is not possible, additional security features are in place.

â € œProcesses, instructions and technological aids are continually reviewed, revised and implemented to mitigate human errors and further increase the attention of every person within the department as a vital function of protecting the information from the Ministry of Defense and assets.â €

Nicholas Banks, vice president of EMEA and APAC at Imation Mobile Security, said: â € œThe Ministry of Defense and the Southwark Council, two public sector organizations, both security breaches last week. This raises questions about our method of government bodies "in general to data security and emphasizes the need to implement the features of the simplest data security, along with providing staff with portable storage devices encrypted and encryption of your data.

â € CERN mobilized today's world, any organization and particularly the organs of government should take preventive measures in order to equip their employees or contractors with acceptable safety features. It is imperative that your data will not fall into the wrong hands or lost accidentally.

â € œGovernment bodies like the Ministry of Defense and the Council of Southwark, the data are kept confidential from the general public so that should take the lead in advocating strict security.â skill levels €