When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works .
"I remain concerned that GCHQ has not yet established a sufficiently clear understanding of the scale, location, and recoverability of lost removable media that may contain IPA-related data, notwithstanding that the underlying issues were first drawn to my attention several years ago. While I recognize the technical and practical challenges involved, the passage of time without a comprehensive account heightens the importance of sustained senior focus and assured remediation. Given the potential sensitivity of the material involved, I will continue to monitor progress closely,” investigatory powers commissioner Lord Brian Leveson wrote in the report.
GCHQ acknowledged to The Register that the tracking system for its removable media had been insufficient, but it has since taken steps to prevent it happening in the future. "We recognize the importance of security of removable media in our systems and have a range of measures to mitigate the risks posed by these items. The findings in the report have been addressed comprehensively, and all necessary steps to correct this issue have been taken," a GCHQ spokesperson told the publication. It has also launched a program to help locate as many of the lost storage media as possible and will have an automated asset-tracking system up and running before 2027.
The GCHQ is the UK’s equivalent to the National Security Agency (NSA), making it the country’s primary signals intelligence and cybersecurity agency. Its primary mission is governed by the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which was passed in 2016 and lays out the legal framework for government surveillance, data collection, and intercepting communications. While neither agency has exactly confirmed what data the missing drives contained, it could potentially have information about GCHQ operations, administration, and other crucial data.
While the UK’s premier signals intelligence and cybersecurity agency losing thousands of removable drives may sound alarming, it’s not alone in running into blunders like this. The publication reported that Britain’s Ministry of Defence has lost 87 classified USB drives from 2003 to 2008, and that the UK police have also dealt with officers losing their assigned tech gadgets. Other governments have also made considerable tech missteps — for example, the South Korean government lost 858TB of data after a catastrophic fire destroyed a data center, and it discovered that it had no backups. Indonesia discovered the same issue when it was hit with a ransomware attack , with one government official calling the lack of backups “stupid.”
UK's Royal Navy sea drones contain component that secretly sent data to China, report claims
AI agents inadvertently leak 13,000+ internal screenshots from organizations
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/usb-flash-drives/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/usb-flash-drives/intelligence-agency-misplaced-a-very-significant-number-of-removable-drives-storage-media-have-been-missing-for-years-but-exact-number-of-lost-devices-remain-unknown#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
- Amazon tells engineers to stop ‘tokenmaxxing’ to look productive
- PsiQuantum turns its photonics know-how into an optical switch for supercharging AI data center GPU networks
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang may have been the target of a spy plot through 'Chinese intelligence asset,' report claims
- Things That Go Beep in the Night: Agentic AI Joins the Search for Extraterrestrial Signals
- Fake PS5 emulators are being used to steal gamers' passwords
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.