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Government losing devices says Apricorn​

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According to the annual findings from Freedom of Information (FoI) requests submitted by Apricorn (www.apricorn.com) to 14 government departments into the security of devices held by public sector employees the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and the Home Office declared almost 1,000 lost and stolen devices in 2022.

Between September 2021 and September 2022, the Home Office declared 469 lost and stolen devices, whilst the MoD reported that 467 mobiles, tablets and USB devices unaccounted for.

Additionally, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) declared 635 lost and stolen devices including 387 mobiles, 244 tablets and 4 USB drives representing a 45% increase on the numbers shared for the same period in 2020-2021 (346) and 40% more than 2019-2020 (375).

Further to that, the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy admitted to 204 lost and stolen devices – almost double the 107 declared in the previous year.  The Prime Minister’s Office also reported 203 misplaced devices.

“We have asked these same questions via these FoI requests for the last three years and whilst it’s not surprising to see devices unaccounted for, we would hope to see the numbers declining as cybersecurity becomes more established.  Robust, regularly reviewed and tested policy and practice, with appropriate technology choices and implementation, supported by education and comprehensive backup and recovery strategy, is a must for optimum protection,” says Jon Fielding, Managing Director, EMEA Apricorn.

“Despite our requests, the MoJ declined to provide answers to the FoI questions posed, regardless of having provided information in previous years which highlighted 345 lost and stolen devices, and an alarming 2,152 data breaches in that time (September 2020 and September 2021).”

However, research into the MoJ’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-2022 which covered April 2021-March 2022, uncovered a huge number of breaches declared to the ICO.   Most disturbing being the disclosure of a COVID status spreadsheet of 1,800 staff and offenders sent by email to all staff within a prison.  This contained the confidential data for offenders and staff, including health data.  Another 1,400 MoJ employees were potentially affected when a compromised Office 365 account allowed access to personal data.

“Furthermore, there were 5,782 security incidents that were not deemed necessary to report to the Information Commissioner’s Office for 2021-22, including loss or theft of information assets from secured government premises and outside secure premises, as well as insecure disposal of inadequately protected electronic equipment, devices or paper documents,” continues Fielding.

“It’s worrying to think that a government entity that holds so much responsibility, and retains so much sensitive and personal information, can pose this much risk.  The number of recorded security incidents, whether reported to the ICO or not, should alarm security teams.  A good place to start would be through education and awareness.  It’s not simply about putting critical policies in place, but equally ensuring that awareness is maximised among employees so that the risks associated with applications, actions and devices are understood.”

Despite declining to respond to FoI requests, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Annual Report for 2021-22 recorded 117 personal data incidents between March 2021 and April 2022.  Of these, 96 were considered personal data breaches under UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), 76 of which were deemed human error 76, 2 were tech issues, 10 resulting from partners across government (PAG) and supplier and 8 were deliberate contraventions.  The FCDO also had 16 incidents considered serious enough to be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The Department for Education (DfE) confirmed the loss and theft of 356 devices, including 296 USB drives.  With so many USB devices unaccounted for, it further highlights the importance of encryption on portable drives to keep data safe when moving beyond the confines of the government network.

Despite the number of devices missing in action, when questioned on the security of these devices, all of the government departments asked, confirmed the missing devices were all encrypted as standard.  “The good news is that encryption is obviously recognized, and in the case of government departments, mandated, as a critical component of device security,” adds Fielding.  “Hardware encrypted storage devices should be provided as standard to ensure that any sensitive data held on them should always be unintelligible if they happen to be misplaced and fall into the wrong hands.  Additionally, encryption should be combined with the automation and enforcement of security policies through technology wherever possible.”  

The research was conducted through Freedom of Information requests submitted through Whatdotheyknow.com.  The requests, submitted between December 2021 and February 2023, along with the successful responses can be found at www.whatdotheyknow.com/search/alicia%20broadest%20data%20loss/all