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   Thousands of PCs, phones and tablets stolen and lost by UK public sector   
   bodies prompting fears of huge national security risk   
      
   Date:   
   Tue, 24 Jun 2025 09:22:30 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   UK government reports over 2,000 missing devices in just one year, raising   
   cybersecurity concerns.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Have you ever lost a phone or computer and worried about what someone might   
   find on it?    
      
   Thousands of devices have gone missing from UK government departments in the   
   past year, raising serious concerns about cybersecurity and data protection.    
      
   Analysis by The Guardian , based on freedom of information disclosures, found   
   the government lost over 2,000 laptops, phones and tablets in the past 12   
   months, with a replacement cost estimated at around 1.3m.   
      
   Surprisingly large numbers   
      
   The Department for Work and Pensions, Ministry of Defence, and the Cabinet   
   Office each reported hundreds of missing tech items.    
      
   The Ministry of Defence alone recorded 103 missing laptops and 387 phones in   
   just five months of 2025. Other departments affected included HM Treasury,    
   the Bank of England, and the Home Office.    
      
   We treat all breaches of security very seriously and we require all suspected   
   breaches to be reported. All incidents are subjected to an initial security   
   risk assessment, with further action taken on a proportionate basis," an MoD   
   spokesperson said.    
      
   Playing down fears, the defence department added, Encryption on devices   
   ensures any data is safeguarded and prevents access to the defence network.    
      
   This sentiment was echoed by the Bank of England, which said it takes the   
   security of devices and data very seriously and has suitable protection in   
   place.    
      
   The same official line was trotted out by a government spokesperson who said,   
   We take the security of government devices extremely seriously, which is why   
   items such as laptops and mobile phones are always encrypted so any loss does   
   not compromise security.    
      
   Professor Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey,   
   wasnt quite so reassured, telling The Guardian , These are surprisingly large   
   numbers. When you are talking about so many [it creates] a large attack   
   surface [for hackers]. If 1% were system administrators who had their phones   
   stolen, thats enough to get in.    
      
   He added, If devices were open when stolen, as frequently happens with phones   
   snatched on the street, criminals could keep them open and drill down into    
   the device and once the phone is open, by design it is readable and   
   accessible.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/thousands-of-pcs-phones-and-tablets-sto   
   len-and-lost-by-uk-public-sector-bodies-prompting-fears-of-huge-national-secur   
   ity-risk   
      
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