MOD data loss inexcusable

When I was at Junior Staff College in 2001 we had to work through a huge tome about "Service Writing". This covered the appropriate formats for formal letters, informal letters, semi formal letters, lose minutes, written military orders, etc, etc, etc. Tucked in at the back were a few pages on electronic communications.

Only a few days ago I received an email which was circulated to embarrass an officer who had sent a rather pompous email. It had been forwarded and forwarded with people appending comments at each stage. Because of this it contained the email signatures of hundreds of military people, some quite senior.

To hear that the details of hundreds of young soldiers had been lost was worrying but not surprising, this presents not just a financial threat to them but if the details falls into the wrong hands it could prove to be a significant security threat too.

Data security is something that everyone has as second nature, the government must instill a greater sense of its importance, unfortunately I can't see how this will happen while the government itself has such a lax attitude.