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Encryption could have made stolen RAF personnel details useless

ID theft concerns and fear of blackmail have been raised following the loss of sensitive Royal Air Force (RAF) records that were lost when USB drives were stolen last September.

The details including information on convictions, use of prostitutes, extra-marital affairs, debt and medical conditions were stolen from RAF Innsworth in Gloucestershire.

According to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), whose comments are featured in BBC Two's Who's Watching You, 500 files with details of the affairs and other information were lost.

Commenting on the incident, online security expert Graham Cluley of Sophos has said that the MOD should have "taken the sensible step in the first place of ensuring that this information was properly and securely encrypted".

He went on to state that encryption would have made the lost drives "as useful to potential blackmailers as handlebars on a surfboard".

ID theft is expected to double over the next five years, according to a recent report from insurer LV.

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