In follow-up to the previous post regarding the missing laptops at the US Department of State, those laptops have now been found.

As many as 400 laptops were unaccounted for during the early stages of a recent audit. The laptops, which were destined for foreign police services, were located after a management count issue. The missing laptops were being held in storage before going overseas.

Thankfully, the US Department of State has avoided a massive fallout from the issue. However, it still points to a flawed asset management system, as the laptops went missing in the first place.

“I would expect many of the laptops to be ‘found’ in the sense that they may not have actually left a State Department facility,” the official said, “But if they don’t know where they are, that is bad management, and they may as well have disappeared,”

Asset tracking software, such as that provided by Absolute Software its Computrace products, could have avoided this entire situation.

The full audit has not been released by the Inspector General as to the state of laptop security in all its aspects at the US Department of State. The investigation is still ongoing.

Via CNet, CQ Politics ; Image: anendel @ morguefile ; Tags: state department, us department of state, laptop security, asset management, it security, laptop tracking