British military failed to report loss of sensitive data
Published: Monday 25 May 2009 13:31 UTC
Last updated: Monday 25 May 2009 15:12 UTC
The British armed forces failed to report that hundreds of air force officers could be vulnerable to blackmail following the theft of three computer disks. The disks disappeared from an air force base last September. The matter was reported immediately, but the ministry of defence failed to mention that the disks carried the vettting records of about 500 officers. This includes information on drugs use, extra-marital affairs, visits to prostitutes and debts. Vetting is the process of assessing an individual for higher security clearance. The military leadership failed to report this to the British government. A former air force officer recently brought the matter to light. He says foreign secret services could use the information to blackmail officers.
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