This is simply unreal. An update to the story on data loss from the Department of Veteran Affairs. The Social Security numbers and personal info for up to 2.2 million (yes I said million) military personnel including 80% of the active service military was among the data that was stolen from the home of a Department of Veteran Affairs analyst. Now, what the hell was this information doing away from a secured location?
The department announced that personal data for as many as 1.1 million active-duty military personnel, 430,000 National Guard members and 645,000 reserve members may have been included on an electronic file stolen May 3 from a department employee’s house in Aspen Hill. The stolen data include names, birth dates and Social Security numbers, VA spokesman Matt Burns said.
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Defense officials said the loss is unprecedented and raises concerns about the safety of U.S. military forces. But they cautioned that law enforcement agencies investigating the incident have not found evidence that the stolen information has been used to commit identity theft.
This really demonstrates a massive break down in process and information security policies for the VA. The fighting men and women of the US deserve better than this. It’s bad enough that they are getting shot at everyday let alone have to worry if their ID has been stolen due to inept VA staffers.
[tags]Department of Veteran Affairs, VA, Data Security, Identity Theft[/tags]
