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Departmental Data Protection

Volume 486: debated on Monday 12 January 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) desktop computers, (b) laptop computers, (c) hard drives and (d) memory sticks which have gone missing from (i) his Department and (ii) each of its agencies in each year since 2003 have since been recovered. (245085)

The following tables show the number of officially issued assets centrally reported as recovered from the MOD and its agencies since 2003. Some delayed reporting of recoveries of hardware has led to minor updates to the figures in this answer compared with information provided in previous answers. The following figures reflect the latest data held as at 18 December 2008.

Figures for recovered desktop computers, laptop computers, hard drives and USB flash memory devices for the MOD from 2003 to 2008:

MOD recoveries by year

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Total

(a) Desktop computer

0

1

2

3

0

1

7

(b) Laptop computer

5

6

11

9

9

26

66

(c) Hard drives

2

2

1

0

1

5

11

(d) USB flash memory devices

0

0

0

1

1

11

13

Total

7

9

14

13

11

43

97

Note:

Memory sticks are defined by MOD as USB flash memory devices.

Figures for recovered desktop computers, laptop computers, hard drives and USB flash memory devices for the MOD agencies from 2003 to 2008

2003

2004

2005

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

DT

LT

HD

USB

DT

LT

HD

USB

DT

LT

HD

USB

Air

2

2

2

1

Centre

1

Def Estates

DE&S

1

1

1

DSTL

1

Fleet

3

1

1

1

Land

1

1

1

1

PJHQ

1

UKHO

Other

2

5

Total MOD

0

5

2

0

1

6

2

0

2

11

1

0

200620072008

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

DT

LT

HD

USB

DT

LT

HD

USB

DT

LT

HD

USB

Totals

Air

3

1

2

13

Centre

2

2

4

5

14

Def Estates

1

1

2

DE&S

1

1

5

10

DSTL

1

Fleet

1

3

2

9

3

24

Land

2

1

3

1

1

3

1

3

19

PJHQ

1

1

1

2

6

UKHO

1

1

Other

7

Total MOD

3

9

0

1

0

9

1

1

1

26

5

11

97

Notes:

DT—Desktop Computers

LT—Laptop Computers

HD—Hard drives

USB—USB flash memory devices

Other—the MOD agency could not be identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the IT systems in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies are fully accredited to the Government’s security standards. (245384)

The Ministry of Defence and its Agencies have several hundred computer systems in use ranging from corporate IT systems serving thousands of users across the Department and its Agencies, to business area systems serving smaller communities. The following data cover those systems within the MOD and its Agencies where accreditation is centrally controlled by Defence Security and Standards Assurance (DSSA), which are either connected to the MOD networks, or are stand alone above Secret, or are systems that contain significant value to the MOD e.g. those systems that contain particularly sensitive or personal data. It does not include those systems where authority for accreditation has been delegated e.g. stand alone systems with no onward connectivity, and where a further breakdown of information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

58 per cent. of systems have been through the accreditation process. Of these, 27 per cent. of systems are classed as fully accredited and are being operated in a manner within the MOD’s Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO)’s risk appetite; 31 per cent. of systems are currently classed as having conditional or interim accreditation with constraints placed on the operation of the system to ensure that identified risks are adequately managed within SIRO’s risk appetite.

The balance of systems (42 per cent.) are in the process of being accredited; this represents the significant workload undertaken to plan and develop solutions for new equipment systems or platforms; this also includes applications from legacy systems, many of which will be migrated onto the developing Defence Information Infrastructure.