The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) says it has fallen victim to five significant incidents of data loss this year.

In total, the personal details of 188 people were lost as a result of breaches to its computer network, according to ComputerWeekly.com.

Furthermore, it reports that the details of 50,000 visa applicants could be seen by visitors to a FCO-run website in November last year.

According to an FCO report, it will "continue to monitor and assess its information risks" so that it can "ensure continuous improvement of its systems".

Meanwhile, a new study reported in SC Magazine has suggested that small and medium-sized businesses are naive about the level of threat posed by cybercriminals.

Over half of companies surveyed by McAfee indicated a belief that they are too small to be noticed by criminals.

However, nearly a third of companies in the study were found to have been attacked at least four times in the past three years.

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