Parliamentary staff report almost 100 devices as missing over two-year span, data shows

Laptops, tablets and phones were among those reported as lost or stolen

A total of 96 IT devices were reported missing by parliamentary staff across 2019 and 2020, official figures show.

Data obtained by the Parliament Street think tank under the Freedom of Information Act shows that 41 laptops and 36 tablets were either lost or stolen, along with 11 phones and six headsets.

17 of the devices lost or stolen were later found, the figures show, with 11 incidents of devices being reported as missing on trains, three on a bus and six in a car over the two-year period.

The figures have led to concerns over security being raised, with Absolute Software's area vice president EMEA, Edward Blake, claiming the lost devices could have led to cyber criminals obtaining sensitive data.

"Devices used to carry out parliamentary duties will contain goldmine of confidential data that could be lethal if it fell into the hands of cyber criminals," he said.

"It's critical that parliamentary authorities have the necessary systems in place to track missing devices, enabling them to freeze and wipe lost or stolen laptops, protecting public data from fraudsters.

"If a lost laptop ends up in the wrong hands, the organisation in question could be facing a far more costly predicament than first anticipated.

"Sophisticated cyber criminals can steal the data contained on these devices, access more businesses files, or intercept emails between colleagues, all with relative ease once a device has been compromised."