Text 677, 130 rader
Skriven 2006-05-23 18:08:00 av ROSS SAUER (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av ALL VETERANS
Ärende: VA incompetents
=======================
So why was this information kept "secret" for almost 3 weeks?
You know who is in charge at the Veteran's Administration? 
Easy answer: A Bush crony.

Face it, everything Bush and his boys touch turns into shit.

Source: Theft of vets' data kept secret for 19 days

Social Security numbers of 26 million-plus veterans stolen

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Authorities waited almost three weeks to alert the 
public that personal data on more than 26 million U.S. veterans had 
fallen into the hands of thieves, a government source said Tuesday.

The data were on a laptop and external drive stolen May 3 in an apparent 
random burglary from the Montgomery County, Maryland, home of a 
Department of Veterans Affairs computer analyst, said the government 
source, who has been briefed on the issue.

The government did not immediately announce the theft because officials 
had hoped to catch the culprits and did not want to tip them off about 
what they had stolen for fear they would sell it, the government source 
said.

On Monday, officials abandoned that plan and alerted the public.

The computer disk contained the names, Social Security numbers and birth 
dates of every living veteran from 1975 to the present, Veterans Affairs 
Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday.

Nicholson told reporters that the FBI and the department's inspector 
general are investigating the matter.

Nicholson and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said there was no 
indication that the information has been misused.

The missing data do not include health records or financial information, 
the department said. They do include some disability ratings and data on 
some veterans' spouses. (Watch the implications of the security breach -- 
2:23)

Nicholson said the analyst has been placed on administrative leave 
during the investigation but that no "ulterior motive" is suspected. The 
analyst is a longtime department employee but was not authorized to take 
the information home, he said.

Nicholson disclosed few details about the theft, citing the 
investigation. But he told CNN earlier, "We think that it wasn't a 
targeted burglary.

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

But the missing information could be gold for electronic identity 
thieves, who operate hundreds of Internet sites where personal 
information is bought and sold.

"It's a pretty dire situation," said Rutrell Yasin, technology editor of 
Federal Computer Week, which covers computer and information technology 
issues in the federal government. "You have to hope that information is 
not in the hands of people who know what to do with it."

Yasin said the theft should be a wake-up call to federal agencies.

"They should certainly have the necessary security on their computers, 
secure communications links that would protect personal data," Yasin 
said.

Gonzales and Deborah Platt Majoras, chairwoman of the Federal Trade 
Commission, lead the Bush administration's identity theft task force. 
Gonzales vowed federal prosecutors would have "zero tolerance" for 
anyone implicated in trafficking in veterans' personal data.

"We have no reason to believe at this time that the identity of these 
veterans have been compromised," he said. "But we feel an obligation to 
alert veterans so that they can take the appropriate steps to protect 
this information."

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

The FBI said its Baltimore, Maryland, field office is investigating, and 
Gonzales said the bureau was working in conjunction with local 
authorities.

Nicholson vowed to take steps to ensure such a mistake is not repeated, 
including mandatory security training in the next month for all 
employees with access to private information.

Lawmakers cite concerns

Lawmakers also expressed concerns about the stolen data.

Sen. Larry Craig, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 
said Monday that all veterans should be "vigilant" in monitoring their 
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 said. "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."

Rep. Steve Buyer, Craig's counterpart in the House, said he is "deeply 
concerned."

"I expect VA's inspector general and the FBI to work closely together so 
that we can identify and eliminate the flaws that allowed this leak and 
prosecute any criminal acts," the Indiana Republican said in a written 
statement.

"I know that VA is taking steps to notify veterans and provide help on 
consumer identity protection. The committee will examine this incident 
in the context of previous data compromises, to ensure that veterans' 
information is safeguarded."

CNN's Terry Frieden, John King and Marsha Walton contributed to this 
report. 

© 2006 Cable News Network

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