Senior RAF officers could be at risk of blackmail and identity
fraud after the theft of hundreds of computer files that included
information about extra-marital affairs and drug taking.
The information was gathered as part of routine security
clearance investigations.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said about 500 files stored on
three computer hard drives went missing from RAF Innsworth,
Gloucester, last September.
A spokesman for the MoD said all those at risk have been
alerted, but there is no evidence to suggest the information had
been targeted by "criminal or hostile elements".
"All individuals identified as being at risk received personal
one-on-one interviews to alert them to the loss of data, to discuss
potential threats and to provide them with advice on mitigating
action," he said.
In October last year, the MoD revealed that a
hard drive lost by IT services company EDS may have contained
details of 1.7 million people.
The unencrypted went missing from EDS premises in Hampshire. The
drive's loss was revealed during an ongoing audit of data security
ordered by the Cabinet Office.
News of the latest MoD data breach comes as the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it is to review 140 breaches by
the NHS in which tens of thousands of personal records were
lost.
The ICO continues to step up action around data privacy,
announcing last week that it has prosecuted a
Peckham recruitment company and a
Lewisham law firm for failing to register as data
controllers.