Staffers at the UK’s Houses of Parliament has lost 96 laptops, tablets and phones over the last two years. The data obtained by think tank Parliament Street under the Freedom of Information act, highlights the need for greater device tracking technology.
“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,” said Edward Blake, area vice president, EMEA, Absolute Software.
“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,” he added.
In total 41 laptops, 36 tablets, 11 phones and 6 Skype headsets were mislaid between 2019 and 2020. In the two-year period 19 devices were reported stolen and 47 were reported as lost. Only 17 devices were located and found.
“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,” said Blake.
“It is more critical than ever to have a permanent digital connection to every endpoint, as well as the ability to lock, freeze or wipe the device if it is at risk of being compromised.”
