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I'm sure most of you have heard of this by now, but it was recently reported that the personal information of approximately 25 million military veterans was stolen. If you are a veteran, or are related to a veteran, please educate yourself on the steps you can take to prevent, or at least minimize, the possibility identity theft.
Link to Full Article
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Veterans Affairs officials did not fully heed warnings to tighten access to personal data for the millions of U.S. veterans, investigators said Tuesday, a misstep that could lead to one of the nation's largest cases of identity theft.
At the same time, the Justice Department said it was not told about the theft of data on 26.5 million veterans until late last week - roughly two weeks after it was taken from a VA employee's home - raising questions of whether the agency acted quickly enough to notify veterans.
"Our investigation is ongoing," said Cathy Gromek, a spokeswoman for VA inspector general Jon Wooditch.
In a briefing paper to Congress, Wooditch said he was closely reviewing the theft from a VA data analyst's Maryland home, noting that his office had long cautioned that access controls were weak.
Since 2001, the IG has reported security vulnerabilities related to the operating system, passwords, a lack of strong detection alerts and a need for better access controls, he wrote.
The VA disclosed this week that the personal information - mainly from veterans discharged since 1975 - was stolen from a mid-level employee's home in what appeared to be a routine burglary.
The material included the veterans' Social Security numbers, birthdates and in some cases a disability rating - a score of between 1 to 100 on how disabled a veteran is. The agency declined to say whether additional information regarding the nature of the disability was disclosed.
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson has sought to downplay the seriousness of the breach, noting there was no evidence the burglars used the information or even knew they had it. But privacy experts said Tuesday the potential for fraud is significant.
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