UK Defense experiences fourfold rise in data breaches
When one thinks of institutions like the British Ministry of Defense, one expects tight security. Tight as in you cross us once, we expect you not to cross us twice. Apparently, things go another way, as the MoD, quoted by V3.co.uk, says the number of data breaches they have been exposed to was 4 times higher in the past year.
The Ministry’s latest resource accounts show it suffered eight serious breaches in the 2008 to 2009 period, up from just two in the preceding year. The most serious case lead to the loss of a portable hard disk from a contractor’s premises containing the names, passport information and bank account details of about 1.7 million individuals. That’s a big blow!
Other incidents included the theft of three USB sticks from “secure government premises”, which contained details of all RAF service personnel who served between 2002 to 2008 and some of their next of kin.
And in April last year, an unencrypted laptop was stolen from government premises containing the personal records of 300 people.
The MoD admitted that it had lost electronic equipment, devices or paper documents from outside government premises on 15 occasions, and in six instances they were lost from within government offices.
We’d say it’s about time they actually did something to prevent such breaches! A private company would have probably done so 8 breaches sooner…But then again, it’s public funds, isn’t it?
