An IT contractor was sentenced to 15 months in jail after it
was revealed he sold stolen IT equipment from the National Air
Traffic Services control centre in Swanwick.
Andrew Woffindin, who had high-level security clearance, sold
computers that contained information that could pose a risk
national security in the wrong hands.
He pleaded guilty in July to selling the stolen equipment and
was this week was jailed for selling £58,000 worth of kit,
including laptops and mobile phones.
According to the Mirror.co.uk judge Peter Henry branded Andrew
Woffindin "a threat to national security" because he sold computers
over the internet that contained secret data on military and
commercial flights.
He was exposed when a missing laptop was spotted on an internet
auction site
But Chris McIntosh, CEO at security supplier Stonewood Group,
said it was highly unlikely that national security could have been
compromised in this case because top secret information must be
protected by CESG-approved encryption products.
"This means that if a laptop or USB is stolen, then the data on
it cannot be accessed without the encryption key. The only way that
national security would have been put at risk is if Woffindin also
had access to and was selling the encryption keys."