In the government's rush to divest itself of laptops containing sensitive personal information, the Department of Commerce has just taken a commanding lead with 1137 missing laptops since 2001, 246 of which contained personal identifiable information, including Social Security numbers. The House Committee on Government Reform is still waiting to hear from 7 more agencies from which it requested an audit last summer of missing computers.
Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, Tom Davis, had this to say:
Perhaps the most shocking thing here is that the public might not have ever known of these breaches, and their scope, if we hadn't specifically asked for the information. Why aren't these inventories taken automatically, instinctively?
We don't yet know exactly how many computers were lost, or whether personal information was compromised. The Secretary has assured me that getting that information is priority number one, and I'm confident he'll get his arms around the problem.
No one is expecting good news from the remaining agencies who have yet to complete their audits. The loss of a single laptop from the Department of Veteran Affairs in May caused an uproar. Now we know that DAV is a piker in comparison to Commerce. You have to question the Bush administration's claim to being focused on national security with the government providing assistance for identity theft. Just what those pesky terrorists need.
For more info take a look at the WaPo article or the Department of Commerce official statement.