Government security fear over £1m of lost devices

Thousands of UK government laptops, phones and tablets worth more than £1m have been either lost or stolen, freedom of information disclosures have revealed, triggering warnings of a "systemic risk" to the nation's cybersecurity.

- Robert Booth

The Department for Work and Pensions recorded 240 missing laptops and 125 missing phones in 2024. In the first five months of this year the Ministry of Defence recorded 103 laptops and 387 phones missing. The Cabinet Office, which coordinates government activity, lost or had stolen 66 laptops and 124 phones.

The replacement cost of the more than 2,000 devices missing across 18 Whitehall departments and public authorities in the last year for which figures are available is running at about £1.3m, according to Guardian analysis of freedom of information responses. The Bank of England, HM Treasury and the Home Office were among departments where dozens of phones and laptops went missing. The Home Office, which oversees policing, lost 147 devices at an estimated cost of more than £85,000.