Credant Technologies, the military grade encryption specialist, says that a Welsh NHS Trust, which has been rapped over the knuckles for being in breach of the Data Protection Act after losing data on 5,000 patients held on a laptop, could very easily have avoided the problem had it used encryption technology.

"The Information Commissioner's Office has quite rightly found the Abertawe Bo Morgannwg trust to be in breach of the DPA for losing the data on the South Wales patients in its area," said Michael Callahan, Credant's vice president.

"It's good to see that the ICO has elicited an agreement with the Trust to encrypt all of its patient data in future, and step up IT security generally," he added…