London, Nov. 25 : The British Ministry of Defence has confirmed the loss of almost 200 memory sticks, desktop computers, laptops and hard drives this year.

The Scotsman quoted Junior Defence Minister Kevan Jones as saying last night that some 74 media storage devices were also stolen this year.

He said that from 1 January to 5 November 2008, losses included 59 memory sticks, 62 laptops, four desktop PCs and 72 hard drives. Stolen items listed for the same period were six memory sticks, 58 laptops, eight desktops and two hard drives.