The British intelligence agency, GCHQ, cannot identify the location of thousands of storage devices that may contain sensitive information. This issue has been raised by an official oversight body that monitors how British intelligence agencies use their powers.
Worrying Report
The report released on Thursday by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPCO) revealed that a significant number of devices, including USB drives, hard drives, and memory cards, are unaccounted for. Brian Lordson, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, stated that GCHQ "still cannot tell me what has happened to the portable media that may contain sensitive data, years after I raised this issue with them."
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Risks of Sensitive Information
Lordson added that these devices "may include data related to the Investigatory Powers Act," which is highly sensitive. Data related to this act refers to information collected or retained under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. This information can include intercepted communications such as emails, text messages, and phone calls, as well as information extracted from people's computers or phones.
The report also noted that GCHQ currently estimates that the number of these devices "runs into the thousands" and is taking steps to report how many of these devices have been confirmed as missing.
Security Concerns
The report stated: "We remain very concerned about this issue and are disappointed by the amount of time GCHQ has spent investigating it." Last year, IPCO announced that GCHQ and another intelligence agency, MI5, had been unable to identify a significant number of storage devices, some of which may contain information classified as "top secret."
A GCHQ spokesperson said: "As IPCO has reported, our management system for portable media was not strong enough to effectively track registered items for use. IPCO is right to highlight the shortcomings in the data produced by the system, and we have taken actions in response to all of their recommendations.
We recognize the importance of securing portable media in our systems and have a range of measures in place to mitigate the risks posed by these items. The findings of the report have been thoroughly reviewed, and all necessary steps have been taken to rectify this issue.
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