Psst! Hey You! Psst, Ya you! Wanna buy a BlackBerry with Tony Blair's number on it? This was the offer presented to journalism student Darryl Curtis by a homeless man who knew Curtis was a student and thought he may have found the information useful. Curtis in turn purchased the device for £150 and perused through it and found information from British cabinet minsters including Ed Balls and David Miliband along with ex-deputy prime minister John Prescott. No information of Tony Blair's was found though... I guess the homeless man thought it was a good selling point, even if not quite true.

As reported by the BBC News, Darryl Curtis alerted South Yorkshire police who in turn contacted the owner of the device, but a Police spokesperson stated it is part of an investigation where theft of the device and forced entry of an automobile was the crime and it will remain in police custody for now.

With all the issues these days being raised about political figures having such crucial information on their devices, one has to wonder why there was a lack of security on the stolen BlackBerry. No auto lock? No BES configuration? Not even a simple password? Scary stuff I say, especially since all those options of security are available, there really is no excuse for not taking advantage of them.

[ BBC News ]