Technology equipment valued at £21,000 has been lost by or stolen from Welsh Assembly Government staff in the past two years. 24 office-issue laptops worth £800 each and 30 mobile devices, such as phones or smartphones, went missing.
Commenting on the findings, Dr Bjoern Rupp, CEO, GSMK CryptoPhone said, “With an increasingly mobile workforce it’s unavoidable that devices will end up lost or stolen. However, government laptops and phones contain a wealth of sensitive information and losing just one device is the equivalent of losing a whole filing cabinet of confidential data. The simple solution for preventing this information falling into the hands of fraudsters is to adopt encrypted secure storage for contacts, notes, schedules and call history on all mobile devices. Following a private sector call to action, many governments have realised this huge security hole and have begun to equip staff with secured devices.“
Three laptops and four mobile devices were subsequently found and returned. The Welsh Assembly Government has issued a total of 2,300 office laptops to staff and 2,950 mobile devices, the majority being mobile phones.
About GSMK CryptoPhone
GSMK is the technology leader in mobile voice encryption. The company develops, produces and markets voice security products for clients from the commercial and government sector. The GSMK CryptoPhone® product range is based on published and publicly verifiable source code employing strong cryptographic algorithms that give customers an unprecedented level of security in mobile communications. GSMK CryptoPhone® secure cellular, fixed-line and satellite phones allow for secure and easy-to-use end-to-end voice communications across network borders. The company is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
