http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/22/vets.data/index.html

Data on 26 million veterans stolen from home
Burglary appears to be random, says Veterans Affairs secretary

Monday, May 22, 2006; Posted: 4:58 p.m. EDT (20:58 GMT)

The computer records include names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth, Nicholson said. The Department of Veterans Affairs disclosed the theft Monday and said it has seen no indication that the information has been misused.

The missing data does not include health records or financial information, the department said. It does include some disability ratings and data on some veterans' spouses.

The VA would not identify the employee who was robbed or the location of his home, and would say only that the burglary happened this month.

Nicholson disclosed few details about the theft, citing an investigation by his department's inspector general and the FBI. But he said, "We think that it wasn't a targeted burglary."

"They weren't after this [data]," he told CNN. "There's a pattern of these kind of burglaries in this neighborhood."

The analyst took the data home without authorization, Nicholson said. Department spokesman Matt Burns said the employee has been put on administrative leave while the investigation is conducted.

Nicholson said the theft is "disturbing," but that there is no immediate reason for veterans to believe "anything unsavory is going on."

The VA sent a letter to veterans informing them of the stolen data. Anyone with questions can contact the agency at 1-800-333-4636 or through the federal government's Web portal, www.firstgov.gov.

The department said Nicholson has briefed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deborah Platt Majoras, the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission. Gonzales and Majoras lead the Bush administration's identity theft task force.

Sen. Larry Craig, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said Monday that all veterans should be "vigilant" in monitoring their own financial information for suspicious activity.

"I've got to ask -- and certainly I have to ask it of not only the VA but all of government -- why can a data analyst take all of this information home?" the Idaho Republican told CNN. "That's a breach of security -- in today's concern about ID theft -- that is huge.

"Of course, I think it awakened the secretary to the vulnerability within his own organization, and that's true, I would guess, across government," he said.

Craig said authorities were still not certain whether the burglary was targeted or random.

"This is something now that really deserves our overview and a review by all of government as it relates to this kind of information and how it is being handled," he said.

"Targetted burglary" -- hah !!

How about maybe the employee took the data, which if you note is identity theft specific, home & sold it, then faked/reported a burglary.

I have no evidence this is the reality, but I have a very suspicious mind ...

Regardless, the guy needs to really, really suffer for his transgession ...

John
who is really getting tired of this -- firms that can't/won't protect data & hackers/thieves ... simple theft is one thing, ruining a lot of people's lives in the process is another ...

I wonder how the US Govt would feel if this stuff was sold on to a terrorist group. Are adresses included in the data?

I'm hoping that the sheer magnitude of the data involved, and the fact that a Veteran's database will by it's very nature include a lot of information which could be useful by Terrorist groups, will FINALLY get something going about the entire identity theft issue.

I'm with John. I am sick to death about the people who will spend SO MUCH time and effort committing computer crimes instead of real productive work.


Tom

What makes me so darn suspicious of this whole thing is that the data is described as Name, SSAN, Birth Date, maybe some disability notes -- apparently nothing else.

Can someone tell me just what kind of "project" needs just Name, SSAN, DOB if that "project" is not ID theft ??

Perhaps he was just searching for prime numbers in the SSAN of all folks whose names begin with Z & Q and were born on FEB 29th ...

Smells of "inside job" to me ...

John

I could see someone having thier lap top stolen at random. I carry mine back and forth to work every day. I can't see anyone having the DOB and SSN of ALMOST 10 % OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES on one hard drive for a good reason, though...

Shaun

I'm with you on this one John. How "interesting" that all this data is:

a) taken from the VA inappropriately and THEN

b) "stolen" while at home.


I thought I heard today that the awareness of the actual loss of the data is NOT exactly recent, i.e. they didn't make the announcement on Monday having JUST discovered the loss in the last 24-48 hours.

Anybody know for sure when it is believed the data was "lost"?

Tom

Links for you guys to check out:

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,98337,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,98338,00.html?ESRC=eb.nl

Since I got out before the dates listed, I can still have a glimmer of hope my information is still somewhat secure.

From what the news reported this PM, the VA guy had been taking work home for years.

I can understand why he did but wish he hadn't.

What I understand is that what was stolen was literally the information on the IDs: Name, SSN, and Dates of Birth and not any financial information nor addresses or anything like that.

What I am thankful for and something that I have heard no one mention was that the Department of Veteran Affairs told the public. It wasn't leaked, nor did the media have to find it out. They've been pretty cooperative with the media in telling what happened and appear to be seriously investigating the issue.

That said, this shouldn't have happened but I am reluctant to automatically say he needs firing. How many times have you taken anything from work home. The argument against this is that this contains sensitive information. Well to that person it may have been necessary to take the information home. What seems smart to one person, may seem like the dumbest thing in the world to another.

Just my opinion.

Jeff

More outstanding customer service by the VA - fire his dumb butt - ironic that an organization that exists soley to service the veteran is held to such a poor standard considering the standard thier clients were held to.