DHS missing over 100 laptops

from raw story/fcw: According to the website FCW.com, the Government Accountability Office has found that over 100 Department of Homeland Security laptops are missing and are thought to have been stolen.

The computers, worth more than $300,000, were purchased by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Three computers purchased by the Coast Guard are also missing.

Excerpts from the FCW report follow:

A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds that more than 100 laptop computers purchased with cards that the Homeland Security Department issued after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast last year are missing and presumed stolen.

According to GAO, the computers purchased by employees of DHS' Federal Emergency Management Agency had a value of $300,000. More than 20 printers worth $84,000 are also missing and presumed stolen, the report states...

“A weak control environment and breakdowns in key controls” left DHS vulnerable to fraud and abuse, states the report, prepared with the participation of DHS’ Office of the Inspector General.