Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of his Department's (a) computers, (b) laptops, (c) phones and (d) USB sticks were (i) lost and (ii) stolen in each month in 2024.
The table below shows the number of computers, USBs, phones and laptops which were either lost or stolen in each month in 2024. The data supplied below is only for incidents which have been closed.
Number of computers, USBs, phones and laptops which were either lost or stolen in 2024 (closed incidents) | ||||
| Computers | USBs | Phones | Laptops |
January | 1 | 9 | 13 | 13 |
February | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
March | 1 | 5 | 16 | 44 |
April | 3 | 4 | 13 | 7 |
May | 0 | 3 | 10 | 9 |
June | 5 | 84 | 11 | 7 |
July | 11 | 12 | 19 | 10 |
August | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
September | 0 | 1 | 19 | 8 |
October | 0 | 2 | 37 | 19 |
November | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
December (up to 15th) | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
Total | 25 | 125 | 159 | 138 |
We take the security of defence assets very seriously and have robust policies and procedures to prevent losses and thefts. Defence personnel are regularly reminded of their responsibilities to safeguard Defence assets.
Proportionate security controls are used to protect electronic devices according to the classification and nature of the information which the asset can hold.