Police hunt for lost memory stick

A police search is underway for a lost USB memory stick believed to contain classified but unencrypted information about suspected terrorists.

The Birmingham Mail reports that the 4GB device was taken from Castle Vale police station by an officer on Thursday 11 September, only to disappear from his pocket when he was called away to deal with a car crash.

West Midlands Police is refusing to confirm the contents of the stick, but it is reported to hold top-secret details of terror cells currently under surveillance, to prevent officers pulling members over for routine traffic checks.

One house has already been raided in the course of the search, following an anonymous tip-off from a caller in a phone box.

Graham Cluley of security company Sophos wrote on his blog: "Presumably the police would not be in such a rush to get their memory stick back if the data held on it was encrypted."

www.birminghammail.net
www.sophos.com/blogs/gc