Police probe laptop theft from Insolvency Service

LONDON (Reuters) - Four laptops have been stolen from a government department that deals with bankrupt companies, the Insolvency Service said on Wednesday in the latest data security breach to embarrass the government.

Three of the laptops had no data on them, but the fourth contained personal information about former directors of 122 insolvent firms as well as insolvency practitioners, creditors and employees of the companies.

"The theft of four laptop computers has been reported to Greater Manchester police, who are investigating," said the Insolvency Service, which has set up a telephone helpline for those worried by the data loss.

"The Insolvency Service is working with Greater Manchester Police to try to recover the computers that were stolen from its premises."

Over the last year, a number of government departments have been hit by data security breaches.

Earlier this month, the personal details of thousands of prison staff working in England and Wales were lost by a government contractor.

In August, police were called in after a consultancy firm lost a computer memory stick containing the personal details of every prisoner in England and Wales as well as the details of 33,000 serious offenders and people on drug rehabilitation programmes.

Last year, Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered an urgent review after HM Revenue and Customs said it had lost data on 25 million people, exposing them to the risk of identity theft and fraud.

The Insolvency Service is in charge of looking after the affairs of bankrupt firms in England and Wales.