MoD review points to cyber security shortcomings

The MoD has improved personal data handling since its 2008 data breach

The Ministry of Defence has said in a recent review that cyber security threats are of "increasing concern" to the department.

The Resource Accounts 2009-2010 (PDF) review led by Sir Bill Jeffrey said that the MoD needs to improve awareness of the risk of cyber attacks, and ensure that it has the "capability to respond flexibly and effectively".

The paper also questions the encryption procedures of laptops used by the MoD. The number that are fully encrypted has risen by over 42 per cent since the 2008-2009 review, but just under 30 per cent of laptops are still to be fully encrypted, increasing the risk of data security breaches.

However, the report did highlight that the MoD has worked to improve personal data handling, resulting in the number of lost laptops dropping from 328 in the previous review period to 121 in 2009-2010.

Further recommendations made by Jeffrey include the need to improve the department's information management structure.

The current system is limited in its capacity to identify and retrieve information for legal disclosure, putting the MoD "at risk of being unable to guarantee access" to time-critical information.

The review also praised the "considerable" work undertaken to prohibit the use of unencrypted media since Sir Edmund Burton's report on the loss of MoD personal data.

Burton's investigation was triggered by the loss of the personal details of 600,000 potential new recruits in January 2008 following the theft of a single MoD laptop.