Stolen laptops held British secrets

LONDON, July 19 (UPI) -- Classified information was stored on 658 laptop computers stolen from the British Defense Ministry during the last four years, officials say.

Sarah Teather, the Liberal Democrat representative for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said the fact the computers were stolen while carrying government secrets is "frightening," The Times of London reported Saturday.

"It seems that this government simply cannot be trusted with keeping sensitive information safe. It is frightening to think that secret MoD information can be lost or stolen," she said. "How can they expect us to trust them to keep our personal information safe in their unnecessary and expensive ID card scheme?"

The 658 stolen computers marks nearly double the amount of thefts previously reported by ministry officials, the Times said.

The ministry has also announced that 121 USB memory sticks and an additional 89 laptops had been stolen or misplaced since 2004. Of those additional missing computers, only 32 have been recovered.