One laptop is lost every two days by the
Ministry of Defence (MoD) with 659 reported stolen and 89 lost
by the department in the past four years.
The 659th stolen laptop belonging to an MoD official and
containing sensitive information was taken from the Britannia
Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool on Thursday.
An MoD spokesman said the laptop was encrypted and Merseyside
Police were investigating the theft.
Last week defence secretary Des Browne issued revised laptop
figures after "anomalies in the reporting process" were
discovered.
He confirmed that 658 laptops had been stolen and 89 lost since
2004, almost double the previous figure released by the MoD. Only
32 have been recovered. The latest theft brings the total number of
computers lost by the MoD in the past four years to 748,
The ministry also revealed last week that
121 of its USB memory sticks have been either lost or stolen
since 2004.
Information on three was secret and 19 carried data classified
as restricted.
Defence minister Bob Ainsworth gave the information on the
memory sticks in response to a parliamentary question tabled by
Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather.
"It seems 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," she said.
The MoD has recalled 20,000 laptops to be encrypted. The move
comes after last month's
Burton report found that although MoD policies and procedures
are "generally fit for purpose", there are a number of areas in
which it "needs to do better" to protect personal data.