£ 150,000 of electronic devices stolen from the BBC over past three years
he BBC , the national
T broadcaster of the UK , has reported over £ 150,000 worth of electronic devices stolen over the past three years , including microphones , laptops and other devices , according to official figures .
The data , which was retrieved by the Freedom of Information Act ( FOI ) and analysed by the Parliament Street think tank , observed the number of stolen devices from the BBC year on year between 2019 and 2021 , as well as the monetary value of devices .
In total , 256 devices were recorded as stolen during the reporting period , totalling £ 150,998 , with a staggering 83 %, £ 125,961 , coming in 2021 .
The BBC notes that during 2021 , 164 microphones were stolen in one incident , which is subject of a Police investigation .
They also revealed that a suspect , a non-BBC contractor , was identified and subsequently dismissed by their employer .
The devices stolen in 2021 included iPads , mobile phones , laptops , MacBooks , televisions , cameras , speakers , lenses and microphones .
Across 2019 and 2020 , 58 electronic devices were reported as stolen , totalling £ 25,037 .
“ The threat landscape of the cyberindustry is constantly evolving and stolen devices are unfortunately a prominent part of that ,” said Achi Lewis , Area VP EMEA of Absolute Software . “ Large organisations like the BBC , in particular , are often subject to all forms of cyberattack , as they are lucrative targets due to the volume of equipment and data they oversee .
“ Given that cyberattacks are a case of when , not if , the onus falls on to organisations to ensure they are properly prepared with both preventative and reactive measures . Leveraging resilient Zero Trust technology , for example , can help monitor device and application activity to identify suspicious behaviour . If a device connects to the company network in an unusual location , a central IT team can be alerted and shut off or freeze the device using secure access controls , should the activity be deemed suspicious .
“ The goal is to balance blocking out cybercriminals to prevent them laterally breaching a network , with keeping devices operational so productivity isn ’ t disrupted . This is supported through ensuring effective cybersecurity training to help staff properly identify and report threats , such as stole devices .” u intelligent MOBILE SECURITY
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