News 

According to a BBC report, the theft took place in Birmingham after a Royal Navy officer left the laptop in his car overnight on Wednesday 9 January.

"The stolen laptop contained personal information relating to some 600,000 people who have either expressed an interest in, or have joined, the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force," reads a <

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statement on the MOD's website.

The level of information held on the 600,000 people varies considerably, from just names (for those who have made a casual enquiry) to bank, family and passport details. According to the MoD statement, 3,500 people's bank details are at risk.

The MoD defends the delay in announcing this news by saying: "After consultation with West Midlands Police about the impact on the investigation were the theft to become public knowledge, we did not immediately make public the loss of this data. In view of today's media reports, we have, however, decided that it would now be right to do so."

Details of what to do if you believe your data is at risk is on the MoD website.

For everyone else, the question has to be why the government's agencies don't use encryption technology to protect our data.

See PC Pro's timely column on data security here.