A contractor, PA Consulting, working for the UK's Home Office lost a memory stick that contained the unencrypted confidential records of 130,000 UK criminals.

According to the London Telegraph, "A full investigation is now underway to find the memory stick â'' containing information on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales, including some release dates, plus details of 43,000 most serious and persistent offenders ..."

There is a distinct possibility, according to reports, that if the information is not found, the UK government could "face a multi-million pound compensation bill from criminals whose safety may have been compromised and police informants who could be at risk of reprisals."

After a spate of high profile data losses over the past 18 months, the UK government ordered a tightening of security rules and practices. It doesn't appear to have done much good, though.

No doubt the UK government will once again call for increased IT security vigilance and awareness.

Any bets on how long before the next major loss of UK government data occurs?

This story is the other side to yesterday's that was about rogue data sticks containing malicious code.

Update:

The UK Home Office has over the weekend decided to suspend the contract with PA Consulting. No word on how long the suspension will last, or whether the contract will be terminated.