The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) has been accused of having a "cavalier attitude" to security after it was revealed it lost 35 laptops in 2008.
The latest report from the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee revealed the department failed to account for the laptops, three of which were confirmed to hold "top secret information."
The Committee slammed the GCHQ's process of tracking the portable equipment and said in the report: "It appears that the process for logging the allocation and subsequent location of laptops has been haphazard."
GCHQ Director Iain Lobban claimed the need for rapid deployment of the laptops due to the nature of the department's work had led to "some people perhaps [taking] slightly hasty decisions without due process."
Lobban has since implemented new policies, including an annual audit, to try and stop this from happening again.
The report concluded: "The Committee considers that this formerly cavalier attitude towards valuable and sensitive assets was unacceptable."
"GCHQ must ensure that it controls, tracks and monitors its equipment effectively. Now that proper processes have been introduced, we trust that this problem will not arise again."
