UK GOVERNMENT STATISTICS SHOW COMPUTER THEFT A SERIOUS PROBLEMWhitehall Fails to Plug IT Theft | eGov monitorWhitehall Fails to Plug IT Theft
By eGov monitor Newdesk
Published Monday, 11 July, 2005 - 11:50
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Most computers stolen from the Home Office, show Government statistics

Central government departments have reported to have suffered at least 150 cases of computer theft in the last six months, according to official figures.

The Home Office alone recorded 95 incidents of computer items being stolen between January and June 2005 – equivalent to a theft taking place in the Department every other day.

By comparison, the Ministry of Defence reported 23 computer thefts to date in 2005, down from a total of 153 in the previous year.

Ministers made the disclosures in response to a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow into incidents of computer hacking, fraud and theft in each department.

In a written answer, Doug Touhig, a junior minister at the MoD, said the Ministry had also experienced 30 attempted computer hacking incidents so far in 2005, having only reported 36 for the whole of 2004.

However the Minister gave an assurance that "none of the reported incidents of hacking had any operational impact".

Most of these incidents were due to internal security breaches, rather than external threats. Half of the cases were classed as "internal – misuse of resources".

Instances of reported computer thefts in other departments were in single figures so far this year, and most recorded no cases of IT systems being accessed illegally.

The Department for Transport said it had experienced 71 cases of computer hacking in 2003-4, 31 in the following year and one incident since April.

The Treasury, the Department for International Development and the Department for Education and Skills said their IT systems had been breached on one occasion in 2004-5.

Figures from the DfES show that in the two years since 2003/4, it experienced 37 incidents of computer theft, all but one of which were "perpetrated by insiders".

The Department of Health said it did not distinguish between losses and theft of IT equipment, but said there were 44 such incidents in 2004-5, costing it almost £40,000.

Figures provided by Health Minister Jane Kennedy put the total sum lost by the Department over the last four years at £233,000.