Leo King

Following a spate of high profile data breaches, the U.S. Ministry of Defence is set to install encryption software on 20,000 of its laptops. It will install BeCrypt's Disk Baseline software across Royal Airforce, Army and Navy laptops, and users will need to be authenticated before they can access encrypted data.

Over 600 staff at the U.K. HM Revenue and Customs agency have been disciplined or fired in a three year period after they accessed sensitive data without authorization. Jane Kennedy, financial secretary to the Treasury, said the staff were either given a warning or were sacked following "inappropriate access to personal or sensitive data".

Over a three-year period more than 600 have been warned or sacked for wrongly accessing personal or sensitive data

Pressure is increasing on the government to create a dedicated police unit to go after cybercrime.

Small businesses are not consulting the government for IT guidance, even though they often lack expertise themselves, according to a new report. The limited money and IT expertise available to small businesses meant they were dependent on the government for advice, the University of London report said.

Firm will develop, host and maintain database demanded after inquiry into the failure of police forces to share information and prevent unsuitable people from working with children or other vulnerable people.

The U.K. government has admitted much more work has to be done on patient security and confidentiality concerns, associated with allowing pharmacists access to patient Summary Care Records (SCRs).

Up to five million British citizens have been incorrectly taxed by the IT system at HM Revenue and Customs, the National Audit Office has warned. HMRC's pay as you earn IT systems were "not well suited to the efficient administration of income tax where people have more than one job or change jobs on a regular basis," the NAO said.