Poor security at many companies and agencies makes sensitive government and private data vulnerable to breaches.
More recently, three senior executives were charged with possessing sensitive government papers on privatisation.
Owen had previously called for a public inquiry to allow secret, sensitive government material to be examined.
Tied into politics at the highest level, they were nonetheless unprotected by the defenses afforded to sensitive government institutions.
Typically, a diplomatic pouch contains classified or sensitive government documents being shipped between Washington and American embassies overseas.
In many such regions, however, facilities of large international corporations and sensitive government installations employ sophisticated equipment and techniques.
The foreign secretary, William Hague, has succeeded in a controversial attempt to exclude sensitive government documents from an inquest into Litvinenko's death.
"We are confident that the amendments would further strengthen the bill and its objectives of protecting citizen's information and enhancing national security through protection of sensitive government information".
Mr. Darling, 48, has presided over sensitive government decisions on pensions, a volatile subject, with effectiveness and without attracting much attention.
The State Department will use the 16,000 desktop computers it purchased from Lenovo, just not on the computer networks that carry sensitive government intelligence.
The concern is that so-called "back doors", hidden in the Huawei software, could be used to eavesdrop on sensitive government, military and business communications.
