Thread: Stolen Vets Data included phone numbers and addresses

Stolen vet data included phone numbers

June 1, 2006

BY HOPE YEN




WASHINGTON -- Personal information on 26.5 million veterans that was stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee not only included Social Security numbers and birthdates but in many cases phone numbers and addresses, internal documents show.

Meanwhile, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said Wednesday that he had named a former Arizona prosecutor as a special adviser for information security, a new three-month post that will pinpoint security problems at the VA and develop recommendations for improvements.

Three pages of memos by the VA, written by privacy officer Mark Whitney and distributed to high-level officials shortly after the May 3 burglary, offer new details on the scope of one of the nation's largest security breaches.

They show that a file containing 6,744 records pertaining to ''mustard gas veterans'' -- or those who participated in chemical testing programs during World War II -- was breached, and that a ''short file'' with as many as 10 diagnostic codes indicating a veteran's disability also was stolen.

At the same time, however, the memos suggest that the data might be difficult to retrieve by thieves.

''Given the file format used to store the data, the data may not be easily accessible,'' stated one memo.

On Wednesday, the VA did not say why it didn't immediately reveal that personal information such as addresses and phone numbers had been disclosed.

But the agency said it aggressively sought to protect veterans once Nicholson was informed.

AP

That's ashame.

As for not being able to access the info easily. The more they talk about it the more the theives will realize how valuable it is.

A computer savvy person could get that info in no time.

As I mentioned in previous forums I think the "loss" of our data by the VA was orchestrated by the administration to make millions more ssn's available to illegal aliens. There are an estimated 20,000,000 illegal aliens in this country and 26.5 million numbers were stolen, which I find to be more than coincidental. It took 3 weeks for the VA to notify us and now as time progresses we find more data may have been compromised. I wonder why the VA Secretary hasn't been called to the carpet by the administration and Bush hasn't mentioned it in any press conference or releases due to the magnitude of the loss. You assume he would apologize to us and say he has ensured that the government is doing everything within it's power to find the data and bring to justice any individuals that are misusing it. But then again the senate has granted amnesty to illegal aliens using fraudulent documentation so the possibility of a Bush apology is remote. Once again this shows the utter disdain, callous disregard and lack of respect Vincente Bush has for veterans as myself and ultimately for all Americans.

You assume he would apologize to us and say he has ensured that the government is doing everything within it's power to find the data and bring to justice any individuals that are misusing it.

Ya you would think......but then again that requires a brain. It's a huge slap in the face.