Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

by **sussurus2** » Tue May 23, 2006 12:26 am

Of course he just happened to take this stuff home without authorization, and he happened to be burgled of the data, because of course they would have known what to look for, and where. And he wasn't summarily fired for the security breach... I've been tracking such large-scale "private records data losses" over the past two years. There have been several, but this is the second such that includes huge number of records of DoD employees or previous employees. The previous was I believe the Bank of America data tape(s) that were simply "lost/misplaced" Makes one wonder about the true purposes of the "phenomenon" and the drummed up panic about identity theft, doesn't it? a) we'll have to hand all those folks a much more secure form of data protection e.g. universal ID card, biometrics etc. b) we'll drive up panic about ID theft by making 'examples' of a few thousand people per millions of population so more people will cry for stronger controls and ID policies c) Veterans, as usual, get shafted. As though they hadn't already put up with enough from the system. There's nothing in those records that DoD didn't already have, so who is the main player and what is the main play here? S. Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer 29 minutes ago WASHINGTON - Personal data, including Social Security numbers of 26.5 million U.S. veterans, was stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee this month after he took the information home without authorization, the department said Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said there was no evidence so far that the burglars who struck the employee's home have used the personal data — or even know they have it. The employee, a data analyst whom Nicholson would not identify, has been placed on leave pending a review. "We have a full-scale investigation," said Nicholson, who said the FBI, local law enforcement and the VA inspector general were investigating. "I want to emphasize, there was no medical records of any veteran and no financial information of any veteran that's been compromised." "We have decided that we must exercise an abundance of caution and make sure our veterans are aware of this incident," he said in a conference call with reporters. The theft of veterans' names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth comes as the department has come under criticism for shoddy accounting practices and for falling short on the needs of veterans. Last year, more than 260,000 veterans could not sign up for services because of cost-cutting. Audits also have shown the agency used misleading accounting methods and lacked documentation to prove its claimed savings. Veterans advocates immediately expressed alarm. "This was a very serious breach of security for American veterans and their families," said Bob Wallace, executive director of Veterans for Foreign Wars. "We want the VA to show leadership, management and accountability for this breach." Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who is a Vietnam veteran, decried the breach and said he would introduce legislation to require the VA to provide credit reports to the veterans affected by the theft. "This is no way to treat those who have worn the uniform of our country," Kerry said in a statement "Someone needs to be fired, the perpetrators need to be caught and the security system at the VA needs to be massively overhauled." On Monday, the VA said it was notifying members of Congress and the individual veterans about the burglary. It also set up a call center at 1-800-FED-INFO and Web site, <a href="http://www.firstgov.gov,">www.firstgov.gov,</a> if veterans believe their information has been misused. It also is stepping up its review of procedures for the use of personal data for many of its employees who telecommute as well as others who must sign disclosure forms showing they are aware of federal privacy laws and the consequences if they're violated. Nicholson declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, which involved a mid-level career employee who had taken the information home to suburban Maryland — on disks, according to congressional sources who were briefed on the incident — to work on a department project. The residential community had been a target of a series of burglaries and the employee was victimized earlier this month, according to the FBI in Baltimore, which was investigating the incident. The material represents personal data of all living veterans who served and have been discharged since 1976, according to the department. The information was included in the veterans' discharge summary that goes into a government database.

by **Mentalgongfu** » Tue May 23, 2006 1:31 am

Fear not, in The Not Too Implausible Future, the databases which store the medical, biometric and miscellaneous other data linked to the RFID chips mandatory for your children to enter public school or to buy and sell will be super-duper secure and nothing like this will ever be at risk of ocurring.

by **sussurus2** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:02 pm

Not trying to 'bump' this story, but it occurred to me last night that I there was one more possible interpretation of this event that strikes me as even more Rovian. And thus, unfortunately, feels more plausible. Sure, the DoD already had all this data, but now that it's been "stolen" this means that the PTB have leverage over every single person in the USA who has ever had military training. And if they begin to step out of line or seem to be a threat, they can be taken out selectively by perpetrating "random" identity theft or threatening to do so. While still using those events as leverage for tighter identity methods & controls. This makes the "theft" a simple preparation for later threat neutralization. Could also mess with them around voting time, might be "fun." Regardless, this "theft" has an apalling effect on the morale of Veterans, some of whom might have felt a sense of duty to do something about the present situation in our country. Adding the worry of identiy theft, etc. to their mental plate removes mental and emotional energy they could be using for more positive work. S.

by **dbeach** » Wed May 24, 2006 11:57 pm

big story the pigs want to close and privatizae govt so this is perfect example of VA corruption the emlpoyee isa PIG infromant or CIA type NEXT the VA will force a NAAtional ID on VETS then its gonna be the microchip The VA will be used as the example to get the masses conditioned soa ccept more big bro we getting a national ID anyways but this will be used to argue for it!! BTW many over at DU think a national ID is a good idea gotta catch dem terrsist

by **sussurus2** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:06 am

My wife just handed me some correspondence from our bank. It informs us that a computer containing data which included my SSN and our various account numbers has possibly been stolen while being shipped [who ships data with such information on it?] and while it was double-layer encrypted, there is still some risk. Of course, although they are assuming it was simply a hardware theft...they'd be glad to give us a free 1 yr subscription to a credit reporting service just in case there's any identity theft risk we should be tracking. If I have any concerns at all, they provide an 800 number to call. I shit you not. The letter is undated. There is no postmark on the envelope. I would never have opened it, assuming it was 4th class junkmail from our bank. That's the level to which this scam has sunk. Informing me of possible exposure to identity theft via what appears to be 4th class maill. But look closer--the stamp says "Pre-sorted First Class Mail." And yet there's no postmark. Incredible. S.

by **Mentalgongfu** » Fri May 26, 2006 2:43 am

Welcome to Bizarro World. I received some correspondence from U.S. Cellular on May 3, dated March 14, with no postmark, which was an apology for previous correspondence sent to U.S. Cellular customers about E-911 provisions and threatening large charges if you failed to upgrade to GPS enabled phones. As I can recollect, I received the first rather intimidating letter in eary March. Funny thing was, I had just signed a new two-year agreement and gotten a new phone, which is E911 enabled but supposedly allows you to turn off the locate function unless you dial the emergency number. A friend runs a cell phone store which is an agent of USC. I sent him a copy of the letter, which was really quite offensive in its framing and misrepresentation. He made some calls. He's rather agressive that way. Then I received that letter, dated nearly two months before receipt, with no visible postmarks, just: "PRESORTED FIRST-CLASS MAIL U.S. POSTAGE PAID Suttle-Straus 5397 in the top right corner, with a rectangular frame I have both letters. Hope I'm not getting too of course for the thread.

by **sussurus2** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:54 am

"Pre-sorted" to me says there were massive amounts of such letters printed up and mailed, which means in your case there must have been a blanket apology sent out after someone in the corporation had their butts kicked for sending the first letter. Whatever the purpose of the first letter you received, they failed to acheive it in the communication which was either an error or a con that failed to "take" so they simply apologize, offer you nothing in return. "Have a nice day." I love the assumption that you'd continue to be their customer, as would most, out of sheer inertia. I feel the same way about our bank. Let's see, why would I continue banking with some company that has such lax security? Oh yes, to change banks I'd have to REFINANCE my effing house. Which we just had done. Huge effing problem that could cost me major bucks now that interest rates have changed. Thus I'm stuck unless I'm pissed off enough to change banks...and lose that $$. S.

by **StarmanSkye** » Fri May 26, 2006 4:22 pm

I too think there's more to this information theft than meets the eye -- For one thing, it's unleashed a shitstorm out of all proportion to the fragile condition of 'delicate' personal info which is already potentially compromised on SO many levels. I don't understand why the VA didn't simply cover this up -- certainly, FAR bigger scandals and outright crimes have been kept hidden and buried within many, perhaps most if not all government agencies. Now officials are claiming this breach could end up costing some 500 million dollars! The thing is, no one will ever know for a fact if sophisticated scams and ID thefts targetting Veterans was as the result of this burglary, or one or many information security breaches, or even insider-fraud. What this shows is that there's criminally-lax oversight over this kind of exclusive information. Didn't ANYONE in the VA think about what their responsibility was to guard this info, esp. if it would cost so damn much to fix, OR be such a huge problem. Considering that petty theives and pot-smokers do get serious prison sentences, shouldn't this kind of criminal negligence result in some very stiff fines and lock-up? Somehow, I think this will be used to push National ID. I don't easily see how this could be used to blackmail or intimidate Veterans tho. Another example of atrociously dysfunctional, negligent 'leadership' under the Bush system of crony-appointments and lowest-common-denominator professional standards and no-consequences-for-incompetance -- with a heavy slice of opportunistic-exploitation-for-nefarious-ends suspician thrown in to round-out the mix of status-quo fraud-as-usual. And so it goes... Starman ****** <a href="http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-05-25T170943Z_01_N25132730_RTRIDST_0_CRIME-VETERANS-PICTURE.XML">today.reuters.com/investi...ICTURE.XML</a> U.S. veterans' data theft may cost $500 million Thu May 25, 2006 1:09 PM ET By Joel Rothstein WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs faced angry lawmakers on Thursday and described how the theft of a device the size of an iPod containing personal data on 26.5 million veterans may cost taxpayers as much as $500 million. "As a veteran myself ... I am mad as hell," Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Nicholson said a department employee who had taken the data home without authorization was placed on administrative leave and "other people are also in my sights as a result of this." The data was stolen from the employee's home in Maryland. Nicholson said he could not promise the government would cover all potential losses by veterans, but suggested Congress pass a law to do so. "There is no sign that any of this (stolen names, Social Security numbers and birth dates) is being used at this time," Nicholson said. Criminals can use such data in credit-card fraud and other identity theft scams. Asked how much it would cost to prevent and cover potential losses, Nicholson estimated "way north of $100 million" and did not rule out a total cost as high as $500 million. Members of the panel, however, said they see the incident as part of broader administrative problems in the department. Some Democrats called for Nicholson's resignation. "This is a defining moment of your leadership," said panel chairman Rep. Steve Buyer, an Indiana Republican. "It is not just a question of some low level employee." Nicholson told the panel the data "did not include any of the VA's electronic health records." But Rep. Bob Filner, a California Democrat, pressed the Bush Cabinet secretary until he acknowledged the stolen data contained some information on the medical conditions of nearly 3 million veterans. While the stolen disk drive did not contain detailed medical records, it did contain codes that describe physical disabilities, Nicholson said. Filner accused the department of having "a culture of indifference," adding that veterans will have to be vigilant "for decades" to make sure they do not become victims of identity thieves. Authorities said on Monday that a hard drive containing the unencrypted personal information was stolen on May 3. Nicholson said that, among other steps to improve security, the department must pinpoint how many employees telecommute. "We have people telecommuting all over the country. We need to know who they are. They have an enormous amount of data," he said describing how some employees were surprised to learn that one of their colleagues was working from South Dakota rather than from an office in Washington, D.C. More than 100,000 worried veterans have flooded the department's call center in recent days seeking information on the stolen data and how they might prevent being victimized. "The VA is neither alone or unique in the possibility for such an incident," EMC Corp. (EMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Vice President Dennis Hoffman told Reuters after testifying to the committee. EMC is best known as an information storage hardware provider. Nicholson is a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and has held his current post since February 2005. The data related to everyone discharged from the military since 1975, and some discharged earlier if they had filed a benefits claim, officials said.

by **dbeach** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:55 am

"Somehow, I think this will be used to push National ID. I don't easily see how this could be used to blackmail or intimidate Veterans tho." gore laid off 300,000 fed employeess ..ask the parks service bushco came in and said through andrew card that the VA will be privatized up to 35 % .scary . no real VA unions so your job could be bid out while you wait for the lay off. IT HAS NOT HAPENNED YET ..This could be the beginning ?The VA recently under sec nicolson announced the review of 200,000 PTSD claims the Vets fought back . the VA stopped the review and in a MOST sneaky way sold the reviewer contracts to private sector. SO NOW any disabled Veteran be reviewed without even knowng .. which is worse than the origianal proposal. I know this stuff as 36 yrs Vets advocate . Princippi was farmed out to the base closings cuz he hung out with a few Vets on their motorcycles and he was a fascist but not so bad . NICLOSON is a HUGE fascist a nd he is rumoured to be outing staff of a liberal nature. THE VA workers are gonna get big hassles cuz of this CIA black ops ALSO the VA is loaded with spys many foreign docs and nurses and CIA black ops who are in the system for yrs. One Russki doctor is a joke cuz many of the Vets and a few staff know she is KGB and laff at her THEY AIN'T FOOLIN ALOT US US VETS IT WAS A BLACK OP!!!!!!!!!!! The Vets are gettin older and sicker but wiser to the fascists IF the Miltary goes fascist and ista real possibility the next line of defense is the VETERANS . MOST the local and state police will carry out he fed orders GUARANTEED! MEMORIAL DAY is MON . ENJOY your HOLIDAY and think of out fallen soldiers who died believing in FREEDOM and are crying in the coffin watching the bushco fasciscimos tear down the USA

Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Re: Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Re: Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Re: Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Re: Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Re: Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

Re: Personal Data of 26.5M Veterans Stolen

VA Data Theft Cost May Reach $500 million ...

Re: VA Data Theft Cost May Reach $500 million ...

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