Every desktop version of Windows since WIndows 2000 in 1999 has included EFS, a feature which allows all user data on the PC to be encrypted as a matter of course and without user intervention. This was explicitly designed for bodies like the MoD and the DoD in the United States and they don't use it?

This says to me that users at these organisations are not even the main problem, and that the issue is indeed systemic and can be found in the policies and behaviour of government IT departments and/or outsourced contractors.

Andrew Fernie, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire

It seems incredible that such slack security procedures are in place at the Ministry of Defence of all places!!!!!!

Even standard laptops issued to Councillors have finger print/ password recognition to activate the machine.

Why isnt this standard? Why isnt all data encrypted and secure? Moreover, why and who authorised this individual to download so much vital information?

Surely there must be CCTV surrounding the carpark where the car was broken into?

I do hope that our National Security hasn't been comprimised, moreover, that other sensitive information on our equipment and capabilities hasn't been lost???

Graham Chadways, GB,

What A Farce The Royal Navy Scapegoat Considered Being Charged.
The Buck Ends At The Defence Secretary,This Is Unbeivable,It Beggars Belief,No Government Heads Have Rolled,One Scapegoat Is Not The Answer What About The Other 167 That Have Gone Missing?,Why Was Something Not Done When The First Was Stolen,I Along With Many,Many People Are Dismayed,This Dreadfull Government Is A Danger To This Country.

Thomas, Surbiton,Surrey, uk

I worked for an electricity company where it would have been physically impossible to hold company information anywhere but on the secure company mainframe. What was such sensitive information doing on a laptop - in the boot of a car?
This is the British military we are talking about, supposed to be the best Force in the world, and it sounds like some banana republic in an old Peter Sellers film. I don't expect a Court Martial from this, do you? Just more government whitewash.
While I am sincerely sorry for those people whose security is put at severe risk, our consolation is that this must surely finally put to rest the nonsense about trusting the government with our information on identity cards.

Max , London,

Why aren't all data of the kind above, on MoD computers, encrypted to a level that only military grade 'cracking' could access.? It seems ridiculous to me for MoD laptops to not be so encrypted. The technology exists and it isn't that expensive. All the money spent on this kerfuffle could have been spent on encrypting the computers.

I don't need to give a lecture here on this - surely IT boffins in the MoD could do a better job of it, and probably have. Robust whole disk encryption is nothing new.

The people who did not have the laptops fully encrypted, and their line managers, should be the ones to be hung out to dry.

Russell , Cambridge, UK

are we not all told by our insurance companiess never to leave things like lap tops in cars?
You are asking for trouble if you do this no matter waht teh information is on there.

never mind the buzzcocks, madrid, españa

I think that you will find many thousands of laptops in cars - most of which will belong to stressed, over -worked employees having to take them home to do yet more work at the end of the day - sometimes well into the night. (I speak from experience.) Perhaps it would be better if our work ethic were not so frantic. Laptops would then be stored more securely in the workplace. It is not the fault of this Government in particular. It happened before they were even in power - so don't let's have a Labour -bashing rant. Be sensible for once, please!

jennifer riley, london,

Ridiculous. 173 laptops missing in 2004 is one thing, but to allow it to continue (174 since then!) is absurd. Why must they contain personal data at all? And if they must, why are they not encrypted and why are they being left unattended?
One could have easily made the case for tighter restrictions after 2004 - ie: $ for encryption software and resources to deploy it. I work for a Health Region in Canada and we do not allow personal data on laptops. If they require access, they must connect to a secure, networked database from one of our facilities.

Bob, Saskatchewan, Canada

Laptops being stolen is not the problem, the issue is sensitive data should not be stored on the local hard disk of the laptop.
Sensitive data should be stored on secure servers in a secure room .e.g. data centre with controlled access, remote access to this data if required should be given using strong encryption methods for authentication.

Pavi, Sandhurst, Berkshire

The newspapers seem to be enjoying each new 'scandal', which is just a variant on a similar theme! Clearly what is happening is that technology has gotten ahead of itself - and working practices being more slovenly now are not helping.
There is one clear path here - insist on the obligation of all holders of privileged information to use best practice in regard to encripting or otherwise protecting that information. Although most or even all encription is theoretically crackable, it should still be in place. After all...you don't neglect putting door locks on just because it is theoretically possible to enter your house nevertheless! The level of technological ignorance in places that should know better is perhaps the real scandal.

Maurice Smith, London,

"there was no evidence that the unencrypted files were deliberately targeted"

We had this whitewash with the benefit theft scandal....

There is no evidence that the unencryted files WEREN'T deliberately targeted!!!!! The only evidence is that our data about OUR lives is freely available to any civil servant flunkey who doesn't even have the common sense to take it out of their car.

Just as there was no evidence that the child benefit data had fallen into the hands of a criminal - in fact there was no evidence about who had them, because they had been "lost".

Just once could someone in Government please take responsibility for this latest disgrace? ...because if it not their responsibility what the hell are they doing there in the first place?

I'm getting as worried about the faceless Govt. nobodies having the data as the thieves who find such easy pickings.

J. Wilkes, Gloucester,

Be it a laptop, a briefcase, or an envelope; the protection levels relate to the content. Current rules for the protection of information have proved robust and sensible even though they were formulated in the 1950's. Security and Privacy markings are a clear and obvious reminder to document holders to protect the information. Give a serviceman an envelope market 'Secret' and you need a gun to get it off him. The problem is that the laptops are themselves not clearly marked. If the machine had bright red stripes and clear fixed markings and text that identified it as a 'classified' object in itself, then users would not be prone to treating them like their own personal computers. In each case, if the equipment was so marked I suggest the user would never had let the item from their sight for a single moment. I would also hazard a guess that the data was only marked 'In Confidence' rather than Confidential which are two very different things.

Jonathan Mills, Brighton,

The question must be asked!

What hasn't this Government lost? The answer may be quicker than what has been lost.

M. Cawdery, Portadown, UK

Why do the laptops need to be taken out of MoD buildings or off MoD sites except in a very few instances?
Surely each MoD office complex is secure so, why is it not possible to fit security tags to each laptop and have systems similar to those used on the doorways of department and other stores, to prevent removal without permission and/or theft?

Karen Clarke, Wakefield,

We are now suffering from 25 years of an incompetent education system compounded by a lack of responsibility and the knowledge that a cock up ensures you rise to the top. Nothing will change until the person responsible knows he/she will be named and sacked.

David Burrows, Christchurch, UK

military computers with sensitive data should be treated the same way as military weapons, signed out from secure storage when needed and signed back in again. loss of laptops should be an instant court marshal offense, same as weapons. this is stunning incompetence by the mod and potentially could lead to loss of life
if this sensitive data ends up in the wrong hands.

pete, london,