Classified Defence documents were left on a Qantas flight recently by a former Defence employee, with the unsecured USB being picked up by a journalist after it was left behind.

The contents of the USB, which are “not highly classified” to quote Defence, have since been repossessed and are the subject of continuing  investigations.

This is not the first time that sensitive information has been lost or stolen, with ComputerWeekly reporting that  the Ministry of Defence has lost 47 USB sticks and 57 laptops/computers, and had 3 USB sticks and 85 computers stolen, over the year 2010.

The Ministry of Defence is said to be ramping up security precautions to prevent future threats.

View the full SMH article here.