The Ministry of Defence has lost or had stolen 287 computers in the last eighteen months, figures published on Friday revealed.
As well as 99 desktop computers and 188 laptops, the MoD has misplaced 18 mobile phones, 10 BlackBerrys, 194 CDS and DVDs, 72 removable hard disk drives, 150 backup tapes, 73 USB sticks, six printers
Also lost were 135 "other" items of IT equipment, the majority of which were USB tokens but also includes radios, 3G cards, cameras, keyboards and monitors.
Defence minster Andrew Robathan defended the department, but said it was inevitable that some equipment would go missing given the size of the ministry.
"The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes any loss and theft of Communications and Information Systems (CIS) and associated media storage devices very seriously," he said.
"The size and complexity of the MOD, more than 250,000 individuals operating all round the world, from permanent bases and in theatre and with frequent movement of kit between locations in support of operations, means it is almost inevitable that equipment will go missing.
He added: "Our challenge remains to reduce the number of such incidents and minimise the risk of any incident resulting in the loss of information by ensuring that devices are encrypted or where this is not possible that additional security measures are in place."
For comparison, according to the MoD, 326 laptops were lost in 2008 and 129 in 2009.