Posted on 05/22/2006 1:01:29 PM PDT by standingfirm
WASHINGTON A computer disk containing personal information for some 26.5 million U.S. veterans was stolen from the home of a Veterans Affairs data analyst after he took home the disk, which he was not authorized to do, according to the Veterans Affairs Web site.
The disk contains names, Social Security numbers and birthdates veterans and some spouses, as well as some disability ratings. The disk does contain electronic health records or financial information.
Veterans were being urged to get more information at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and at FirstGov.gov Web sites.
"The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation," the Veterans Affairs Web site says. In addition, the "FBI and the VA Inspector General's office have launched full-scale investigations."
Veterans Affairs was expected to send notification letters and was working with Congress, veterans' organizations and the media to inform those affected and help them prevent possible misuse of their information.
(Story continues below)
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
He's probably been taking it home regularly for years. I don't this was a case of taking it home once, and coincidentally that was the one night his home got burglarized.
According to the VA website, this should read "does not" contain electronic health records or financial information.
"I think his remaining tenure as a "senior official" can be measured in hours."
Oh, I don't know. John Deutch, while being head of the CI, emailed a ton of classified information over an open email account to his home computer and nothing really bad happened to him.
Sandy Burgler, slap on the wrist for stealing classified information out of the national archives, etc.
Wired Magazine just published a bunch of classified information about NSA activity at AT&T.
How bad could it be?
Ummm, shouldn't the Dept. of Veterans Affairs be doing that?
Stolen? After you took it home? C`mon, my four year old can compose a better BS line than this.
I would offer that he did not have clearance to take it home in the first place. So indeed he stole it FIRST before it was stolen from him. (if it even was)
This person should be on their way to jail for the theft of this information and should also be liable for any ID theft (or anything else) that happens as a result.
I wonder how big the file was?
What, nothing else was touched nor was a window broken? His name isn't Sandy is it?
Just as in private industry, some government employees actually take work home, work on weekends, work at night, etc. to meet a deadline.
That shouldn't surprise anyone.
What should surprise people is if the data was not encrypted. The article didn't say whether the disk was stolen as part of a run of the mill burglary, or if the theft was targeting this employee specifically looking for VA information. If the disk was labeled innocuously and encrypted, it is doubtful a casual thief would bother to attempt decryption. Of course, now we can thank the media for letting the thief know he actually stole something of value. If the thief knew what he was looking for, then the media releasing the news is moot.
..and before 1976?
Doogle
where's Craig Livingstone these days ?
Was it encrypted??? I bet I know the answer...
Let's see. Employee takes confidential CD home. Burglar steals CD. Hmmm. I wonder if the burglar also stole his toilet paper and kleenex. Conspiracy big time.
Only discharge dates from 1976 forward were in the data? What if the Veteran had a claim after 1976- does that make a difference or is it just discharge date?
Simply a failure of IT security policy, implementation, enforcement and audit.
Well if they weren't aware of the data then they certainly know it now. Authorities don't believe it was targeted? Ha ha ha ha.
Precisely.
well, you don't accidentally take a disc like that home...
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