Navy to investigate security breach

By Henry McDonald
Ireland editor
The Observer
29 November 2009

Royal Navy investigators flew to Belfast last week after a memory stick containing "restricted" information on naval manoeuvres and personnel around the UK was reported missing.

The Observer has learnt that two senior detectives from the Royal Navy Police's Special Investigation Branch met members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to investigate the issue.

The detectives flew from Portsmouth to discuss the loss of a USB memory stick close to Belfast docks last month. The device was found at the Odyssey car park, near the river Lagan. It was offered for sale to a newspaper, which declined the offer. It was later handed to the police in Bangor. The device is understood to have contained 37 pages of information on Royal Navy personnel including name, ages and ranks.

It also contained "restricted" information on naval operations around the UK, and the whereabouts of Royal Navy officers. Security sources said this weekend that naval investigators would examine the device to see if any of the material was copied. They will also look for "electronic footprints" on the device to find out who last used it.