Raiders steal government laptops

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/8077957.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Civil service laptops have been stolen during a break-in at the Department of Finance and Personnel's Corporate Human Resources office in Belfast.

The department said it had launched an urgent investigation into the theft of the computers.

It is now attempting to establish what information was stored on the laptops and whether there was a risk to the personal date of civil servants.

The raid in the Royston House area took place some time over the weekend.

A spokesperson for Nigel Dodds's Department of Finance and Personnel said: "In accordance with Northern Ireland Civil Service data security procedures all of the laptops were password-protected.

"In light of that analysis, we will ensure that staff are notified accordingly and advised what precautions, if any, are appropriate," the spokesperson said.

Police are currently conducting an investigation into the break-in.