Yet Another VA Computer Missing

Personal information on 38,000 vets were stored on a computer stolen from a Veterans Affairs Department subcontractor.

Reader, John writes:

Veterans Affairs – Yes, again. A computer containing personal information on thousands of veterans has turned up missing. This time the computer was stolen from a subcontractor, Unisys Corp, who was working with the data to assist the VA with insurance collections. The computer contained names, addresses, Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, insurance carriers, billing information, dates of military service, and claims data that may have included some medical information on at least 5,000 veterans (and possibly up to 25,000). According to the VA the data was password protected but not encrypted. Of course password protected is meaningless, without encryption the data is vulnerable.

Other sources: Mercury News (Thanks John for the news tip!)

Written by MCruz on August 8th, 2006 with no comments.
Read more articles on Government and Identity Theft and Veterans.