Key Data on Millions of Veterans Stolen!

May 22, 2006 — Personal data on about 26.5 million U.S. military veterans was stolen from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst who improperly took the material home, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday.

The data included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the veterans, Nicholson said, but "there is no indication at this time" that the data had been used for identify theft.

Nicholson said the theft of the data took place this month, but declined to identify the employee or the location of the burglary.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1644787/posts

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/bw-exec/2006/jun/07/060704512.html
Data on 2.2M Active Troops Stolen From VA

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -

Nearly all active-duty military, Guard and Reserve members - about 2.2 million total - may be at risk for identity theft because their personal information was among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month.

In a new disclosure Tuesday, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the agency was mistaken when it said over the weekend that up to 50,000 Navy and National Guard personnel were among the 26.5 million veterans whose names, birthdates and Social Security numbers were stolen on May 3.

The number is actually much higher because the VA realized it had records on file for most active-duty personnel because they are eligible to receive VA benefits such as GI Bill educational assistance and the home loan guarantee program.

In a statement, Nicholson said the VA's latest review found the data included as many as 1.1 million active-duty personnel from all the armed forces, along with 430,000 members of the National Guard, and 645,000 members of the Reserves.

He noted that the agency has been notifying all affected veterans and that there have been no reports of identity theft in what has become one of the nation's largest security breaches.

"VA remains committed to providing updates on this incident as new information is learned," Nicholson said, explaining that it discovered the larger numbers after the VA and Pentagon compared their electronic files more closely.

Veterans groups expressed outrage over the announcement, the latest in a series of revelations by the government as to who was affected since publicizing the burglary on May 22. At the time, the VA said the stolen data involved veterans discharged since 1975, as well as some of their spouses.

"Our Armed Forces personnel have enough on their plates with fighting the global war on terror let alone having to worry about theft identity while deployed overseas," said Ramona Joyce, spokeswoman for the American Legion.

Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the VA must come clean after three weeks of "this debacle."

"This confirms the VFW's worst fear from day one - that the loss of data encompasses every single person who did wear the uniform and does wear the uniform today," Davis said.

A lawsuit filed by five veterans groups on Tuesday demanded that the VA fully disclose which military personnel are affected by the data theft and seeks $1,000 in damages for each person. The veterans are also seeking a court order barring VA employees from using sensitive data until independent experts determine proper safeguards.

"VA arrogantly compounded its disregard for veterans' privacy rights by recklessly failing to make even the most rudimentary effort to safeguard this trove of the personally identifiable information from unauthorized disclosure," the complaint says.

In response to the lawsuit, the VA said it is in discussions with credit-monitoring services to determine "how veterans and others potentially affected can best be served" in the aftermath of the theft, said spokesman Matt Burns.

Maryland authorities, meanwhile, announced they were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the return of the laptop or media drive taken during the May 3 burglary at a VA data analyst's home in Aspen Hill, Md.

They asked that anyone who purchased a used Hewlett Packard Laptop model

zv5360us or HP external personal media drive after May 3 to call Montgomery County Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). Anyone with the stolen equipment can turn it in anonymously and become eligible for the $50,000 reward, police said.

Veterans groups have criticized the VA for a three-week delay in publicizing the burglary. The VA initially disclosed the burglary May 22, saying it involved the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers - and in some cases, disability codes - of veterans discharged since 1975.

Since then, it has also acknowledged that phone numbers and addresses of many of those veterans also may have been included.

RELATED:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1644110/posts?page=38#38
Military funds research on how nicotine impairs bone healing

WHY this is related:

Study is being run by:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1563271/posts
Healthy People 2010

Study is funded by NGOs:

NGOs-Non-governmental organization - A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an organization that is not part of a government and was not founded by states. NGOs are therefore typically independent of governments. Although the definition can technically include for-profit corporations, the term is generally restricted to social, cultural, legal, and environmental advocacy groups having goals that are primarily noncommercial. NGOs are usually non-profit organizations that gain at least a portion of their funding from private sources. Current usage of the term is generally associated with the United Nations and authentic NGOs are those that are so designated by the UN.

When an NGO funds a study:

EXCERPT:

NGOs seek "access" to information and to those that make the decisions. This can mean many things. NGO representatives want physical access to the conference halls where official meetings take place, so that they can observe, interact with delegates and monitor proceedings. NGO representatives want to circulate their own documents, to speak to meetings, to have access to documents and to gain entry to informal, preparatory meetings and the like. NGOs also want access to administrative offices in the Secretariat and other agencies, and the right to be consulted in the administration's policy-formulation and policy-implementation process. In some (rare) cases, NGOs aspire to official voting status in the decision-making process itself, as is the case in the International Labour Organisation.

Excerpt:

7 CFR part 1.1--implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.

What the schools, states, associations, and hospitals are doing, when they take the grant money, they are turning over the data, your data.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/06/AR2006060601332.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email
Data Theft Affected Most in Military
National Security Concerns Raised

By Ann Scott Tyson and Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 7, 2006; Page A01

Excerpts:

- 2.2 million U.S. military personnel -- including nearly 80 percent of the active-duty force -- were among the data stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs analyst

- security experts said, the information could be used to find out where military personnel live. "This essentially can create a Zip code for where each of the service members and [their] families live, and if it fell into the wrong hands could potentially put them at jeopardy of being targeted," said David Heyman, director of the homeland security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

- information could reach foreign governments and their intelligence services or other hostile forces, allowing them to target service members and their families, the experts said.

- Montgomery County police are offering a $50,000 reward for information that allows authorities to recover the laptop. The computer is a Hewlett-Packard model zv5360us and the external hard drive is an HP External Personal Media Drive.

- The Washington Post is not publishing the name of the career data analyst whose laptop was stolen in response to a request from law enforcement authorities who are investigating its disappearance. (oh the irony)

- VA receives records for every new recruit because active-duty personnel, National Guard members and reservists are eligible for certain VA benefits, such as GI Bill educational assistance and the home-loan program.

VA Secretary tells Congress about 35,000 VA employees have access to sensitive data
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FOXNEWS.COM

Veterans Affairs Secretary Takes Blame for Data Theft

Thursday, June 08, 2006

WASHINGTONÂ â€” Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson accepted responsibility Thursday for the theft of personal information for 26.5 million military personnel and veterans.

But in doing so, Nicholson also told Congress that improving security measures won't happen overnight.

"I am totally outraged as to this loss of this data and the fact that an employee will put veterans at risk," Nicholson told the House Committee on Government Reform. "But it is my responsibility now to fix this. It is doable. It won't be easy and it won't be overnight because we will have to change the culture."

He pledged several new initiatives to protect private information, saying he ordered that no personal laptop would be allowed to access the VA network after the May 3 theft at a VA data analyst's home. About 35,000 VA employees who telecommute currently have some level access to the sensitive information on laptops.

"We remain hopeful this was a common random theft and that no use will be made of this data," Nicholson said. "However, certainly we cannot count on that."

That drew a stern response from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

"Secretary Nicholson, you blame this on an employee who was fired, on a culture, on people doing what they're not supposed to be doing," Waxman said. "That doesn't sound like we're getting to the heart of this with passing the buck."

Congress is trying to determine whether the VA took proper steps to guard against the unauthorized disclosure of personal information. In a March report card, the VA was one of eight departments given failing grades by the government reform committee for computer security practices.

Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the committee, also said he wants to know why the VA is still trying to figure out what information was lost after the records were stolen from the data analyst's Aspen Hill, Md., home on May 3. "The bond of trust owed to whose who served has been broken," he said.

Earlier this week, Nicholson acknowledged that the stolen data â€” which was stored on the employee's personal laptop â€” included personal information on about 2.2 million active-duty military, Guard and Reserve personnel. The agency originally said over the weekend that the number was 50,000.

Under questioning, Nicholson also said:

â€”Local police believe the burglars were not specifically targeting the sensitive data. Recent crimes in the area involved young thieves who stole computer equipment from homes, cleaned out the data and then sold them on college campuses and high schools.

â€”The VA will look after the best interest of veterans and military personnel should there be identity theft. But Nicholson would not say whether that would include financial compensation. "We have coordinated closely with the three major credit agencies to make available to every citizen a free credit check and credit alert."

â€”The VA has determined that the breached information for 300 of the 26.5 million people included disability ratings. The annotations included notes such as whether a veteran had asthma or a herniated disk.

Veterans groups have criticized the VA for a three-week delay in publicizing the burglary. The VA initially disclosed the burglary May 22, saying it involved the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers â€” and in some cases, disability codes â€” of veterans discharged since 1975.

Since then, it has also acknowledged that phone numbers and addresses of many of those veterans also may have been included.

Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., said he was concerned that lax security practices might be widespread in several agencies, adding that there was no excuse for the VA breach.

"It is beyond stupid to take out sensitive documents," he said.

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_217171033.html
Two Teenagers Arrested For VA Laptop Theft

(AP) ROCKVILLE, Md. Two teenagers have been arrested in the theft of a laptop and hard drive containing sensitive data on up to 26-point-five (m) million veterans and military personnel.

Montgomery County Police say 19-year-old Jesus Alex Pineda and 19-year-old Christian Brian Montano -- both of Rockville -- were arrested early this morning.

The equipment was stolen May third during a burglary at the Aspen Hill home of a Veterans Affairs employee. The laptop and hard drive were turned into the F-B-I in June by an unidentified person in response to a 50-thousand dollar reward offer.

The equipment contained the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of veterans discharged since 1975, in what was the worst-ever breach of government data.

Pineda has been charged with first-degree burglary and theft over 500 dollars, while Montano has been charged with first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, theft over 500 dollars and conspiracy to commit theft over 500 dollars.

Police say charges are pending against a third male suspect who is a juvenile.

http://wjz.com/topstories/local_story_217171033.html

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