Va Announces Theft Of Data On 26 Million Veterans

[Guest DON20906]

VA Secretary Nicholson just concluded a conference call with major veterans' and military service organizations to tell them that a VA data analyst took home the names, social security numbers and dates of birth on over 26 million veterans and others to work from home. The data analyst's home was burglarized and the computer and/or storage media containing the data was stolen. Local police, the FBI and VA's Inspector General believe the burglars were after computer harddware and do not know what they have. VA is going public with this in a press release later today.

Edited May 22, 2006 by DON20906

[MikeS]

Hi all:

What a coincidence!!

This VA employee's home just happens to get burlarized during a time when he/she had the disc at home!

This smells like an inside job!

If not, it stinks just as badly!

Keep a close eye on your credit reports.

Also, you can get one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies by going to annualcreditreport.com.

Also, I might recommend a visit to your U.S. Senator or Representative to voice your displeasure about your personal infomation being removed from a secure VA facility to a VA employee's home!!

I won my claim three years ago, yet the Department of Veterans Affairs STILL continues to pi** me off!!

I am always close to all of you even if I don't spend much time on this board.

Mike

[Guest DON20906]

Here's more:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 22, 2006

Frequently Asked Questions on VA’s Letter to Veterans

1- I’m a veteran, how can I tell if my information was compromised?

At this point there is no evidence that any missing data has been used illegally. However, the

Department of Veterans Affairs is asking all veterans to be extra vigilant and to carefully

monitor bank statements, credit card statements and any statements relating to recent financial

transactions. If you notice unusual or suspicious activity, you should report it immediately to the

financial institution involved and contact the Federal Trade Commission for further guidance.

2- What is the earliest date at which suspicious activity might have occurred due to this data

breach?

The information was stolen from an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs during the

month of May, 2006. If the data has been misused or otherwise used to commit fraud or identity

theft crimes, it is likely that veterans may notice suspicious activity during the month of May.

3- I haven’t noticed any suspicious activity in my financial statements, but what can I do to

protect myself and prevent being victimized by credit card fraud or identity theft?

The Department of Veterans Affairs strongly recommends that veterans closely monitor their

financial statements and visit the Department of Veterans Affairs special website on this,

www.firstgov.gov or call 1-800-FED-INFO (1-800-333-4636).

4- Should I reach out to my financial institutions or will the Department of Veterans Affairs

do this for me?

The Department of Veterans Affairs does not believe that it is necessary to contact financial

institutions or cancel credit cards and bank accounts, unless you detect suspicious activity.

5- Where should I report suspicious or unusual activity?

The Federal Trade Commission recommends the following four steps if you detect suspicious

activity:

Step 1 – Contact the fraud department of one of the three major credit bureaus:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 9532, Allen, Texas 75013

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

-More-

Frequently Asked Questions // 2

Step 2 – Close any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently

Step 3 – File a police report with your local police or the police in the community where the

identity theft took place.

Step 4 – File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by using the FTC’s Identity Theft

Hotline by telephone: 1-877-438-4338, online at www.consumer.gov/idtheft, or by mail at

Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,

Washington DC 20580.

6- I know the Department of Veterans Affairs maintains my health records electronically;

was this information also compromised?

No electronic medical records were compromised. The data lost is primarily limited to an

individual’s name, date of birth, social security number, in some cases their spouse’s

information, as well as some disability ratings. However, this information could still be of

potential use to identity thieves and we recommend that all veterans be extra vigilant in

monitoring for signs of potential identity theft or misuse of this information.

7- What is the Department of Veterans Affairs doing to insure that this does not happen

again?

The Department of Veterans Affairs is working with the President’s Identity Theft Task Force,

the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate this data breach and

to develop safeguards against similar incidents. The Department of Veterans Affairs has directed all VA employees complete the “VA Cyber Security Awareness Training Course” and complete the separate “General Employee Privacy Awareness Course” by June 30, 2006. In addition, the Department of Veterans Affairs will immediately be conducting an inventory and review of all current positions requiring access to sensitive VA data and require all employees requiring access to sensitive VA data to undergo an updated National Agency Check and Inquiries (NACI) and/or a Minimum Background Investigation (MBI) depending on the level of access required by the responsibilities associated with their position. Appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs, have launched full-scale investigations into this matter.

8- Where can I get further, up-to-date information?

The Department of Veterans Affairs has set up a special website and a toll-free telephone

number for veterans which features up-to-date news and information. Please visit

www.firstgov.gov or call 1-800-FED-INFO (333-4636).

Don

If your identity is stolen and it costs you thousands of dollars to set it right due to a VA employee who should pay for that? I was kidding about the NSA. What is the value of 26 million sets of vital statistics and SSA numbers? Our privacy rights have been breached in a gross manner that could end up costing us vets millions of dollars. Someone could be selling your identity right now due to this VA screw up.

[Guest DON20906]

Not worth a reply.

Stupid VA. How could they some one person take home this "disk'? The employee probably never had a security clearance in his life . . . ~Wings

[vaf]

Just shot off letters to our two U.S. Senators and the U.S. Congressman from this district. We are not happy about this. We don't believe in this kind of coincidence.

Paid or unpaid administrative leave? Are we taxpayers continuing to reward this federal employee for either corrupt or inept behavior?

[Berta]

This is starting to hit the internet- and Bloomberg (havent seen it yet) just mentioned this on TV-

VFW already made a fuss-

I think it is an unusual coincidence that a federal employee does something he knows he should not do- take home VA data- and then it gets stolen?

I smell a rat and I wonder why he took in home in the first place-

Well- the good thing might be so much for the SSA- VA record comparisons or whatever that committee is doing-

The bad part -this is almost unbelievable- someone out there has lots of personal info on lots of vets-

Maybe that committee and congress itself should start some real oversight now on these VAROs-

or wherever this data came from-

anyone heard anything on what VARO or was it the VA Central office data base?

If a VA employee can take home sensitive federal documents about you-

even if the theft had not occurred- that fed VA employee has enough to compromise the personal info of many.

This doesnt make sense- anyone agree? sounds like two thieves to me, in cahoots.

[jecsb4]

Gov't idiots...I called the FirstGov 800 # to find out if they could tell if my data was stolen and she started to read the VA press release. I stoped her and said I had already read it and then she gave me a number to call and I told her that was the number I called to get her on the phone. She said, oh, I didn't know the inbound phone #!!!!!

Idiots....