Laptops are for many governmental agencies both a blessing and a curse. It’s nearly impossible for field agents and administrators to do work abroad without a notebook, yet at the same time with laptops continually being lost or stolen they represent a significant security risk.

According to CQ Politics, a recent audit at the U.S. Department of State has found that about $30 million in equipment is unaccounted for. One official claims that possibly as much as 99% of that dollar figure is composed of missing laptops.

According to officials familiar with the audit, as many as 400 of the missing laptops belong to the Department of State’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, which is the department that provides training and equipment like laptops to foreign police and security forces.

The fact that at least 400 of the lost laptops are attributed to the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program is ironic because the program is actually tasked with the securing of the departments networks, equipment and laptops.

CQ Politics cites sources not willing to go on the record as saying that the State Department Inspector General launched an audit of equipment three months ago and that only stage one—the actual inventory of equipment—has been completed.

The head of a House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing State Department operations, Nita M. Lowey, says she is concerned about the security implications of a massive loss of notebooks and equipment. The security implications are grave considering that the State Department often conducts secret diplomatic relations with foreign governments.

Lowey issued a statement through a spokesman saying, “The importance of safeguarding official laptops and office equipment containing sensitive information is not a new concern. I intend to review the facts about this situation.”

Officials are not saying that the notebooks have been stolen at this time and the equipment will remain listed as unaccounted for until the whereabouts of the equipment is verified.

Some unnamed officials at the State Department think that the stated 400 notebook number may be overly optimistic. One official quoted by CQ Politics points out that the average State Department notebook costs $3,000 and if 99% of the $30 million in unaccounted for gear are notebooks the number of unaccounted for notebooks would be in the thousands.

The unaccounted notebooks and other equipment at the State Department could dwarf the loss the IRS had slightly over a year ago when an internal audit showed that the IRS had nearly 500 notebooks unaccounted for or stolen with personal information on hundreds of tax payers stored on them.