Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson announced Thursday that the government had recovered a stolen laptop which contained personal information for over 26 million veterans and active duty military personnel.
Nicholson did not say how the laptop was recovered, but did note that no cases of identity theft had been reported among the people whose data was on the laptop.
“There is reason to be optimistic,” Nicholson said. “It’s a very positive note in this very tragic incident.”
The laptop had been stolen May 3 from the Maryland home of an analyst who worked on the data from home.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation recovered the laptop and a preliminary forensic analysis indicated that the data had not been accessed since the laptop was stolen, according to a statement from the Baltimore field office.
“We are trying to finish the forensics investigation as soon as possible,” added FBI spokeswoman Michelle Crnkovich.
Crnkovich added that the U.S. Park Police received a tip about the stolen laptop based on flyers distributed by Montgomery County, Md., police. The person who had the laptop then turned it in to the FBI, she said. — Government Computer News
“The news that the stolen data has been recovered is wonderful for veterans and active duty personnel,” Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, told the Washington Post. “We’re all holding our breath now for the FBI forensic analysis which we hope will confirm that the data has not been compromised.”
While the VA is attempting to fire the analyst, recently released documents indicate that the analyst had permission to take the laptop home and work with the personal information.
“From the start, the VA has acted as if the theft was a PR problem that had to be managed, not fully confronted,” Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) told the Associated Press. “They’re trying to pin it on this one guy, but I think it’s other people we need to be looking at.”
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs is holding a hearing Thursday morning on the computer security breach. The hearing on the state of computer security at the Veterans Administration is likely to discover that government computer security really sucks.
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ravin
Jun 29, 2006
“… but did note that no cases of identity theft had been reported among the people whose data was on the laptop.”
Really? Because I have a friend, who’s very likely in that database (active duty military serving his second tour in Iraq, i.e. veteran) who just had his info hijacked. Luckily he and his wife caught it quickly.
Yeah, it could be just coincidence, but saying no cases if identity theft were reported by people in that database is kind of inaccurate.
Michael Hampton
Jun 29, 2006
Well, since the forensics people say that the data wasn’t accessed, it’s fairly reasonable to think that it wasn’t. (This is something that can generally be checked in seconds.) It’s likely the data came from some other security breach, and there are plenty of them to choose from.
Bill Foster
Jun 29, 2006
Michael: Do you think that we would be informed if the database HAD been copied? Based on the track record of the VA and the FBI, I doubt we’d be told.
Feb 07, 2007
Thieves target government records for identity theft - Homeland Stupidity