Personal data on millions of US veterans stolen
Mon May 22, 2006 3:01pm ET
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Personal data on 26.5 million U.S. veterans was stolen
from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs employee who was not
authorized to take the material home, exposing them to possible identity theft,
the department said on Monday.
The data included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the
military veterans and some spouses, the department said, although there had as
yet been no indication it had been used for identity theft. The electronic data
related to everyone discharged from the military since 1975.
"We are going to send out an individual notification letter to every veteran to
the extent possible," warning them of the risk of identity theft, Veterans
Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said.
Nicholson said the theft of the data from the employee's home took place this
month, but declined to identify the employee, the location of the burglary or
how long the employee had the data at his home. The FBI said the theft occurred
in the Maryland area and is being looked at by the FBI's Baltimore field office.
Officials said equipment containing the data was stolen, but Nicholson would not
say whether a government laptop computer was involved.
"The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the
investigation. We have a full-scale investigation going on in this," Nicholson
told reporters by telephone.
"We have a system of policies and controls that are in place and operating, and
this person violated those," he said.
He said the FBI, local law enforcement authorities and the Veterans Affairs
department's inspector general's office were investigating.
"They believe that this was a random burglary and not targeted at this data,"
Nicholson added, saying there had been a series of burglaries in the community
where the employee lived.
"It's highly probable that they do not know what they have," Nicholson said of
the unidentified burglars.
Nicholson advised all military veterans to monitor their credit card and banking
transactions and be alert for anything that might indicate identity theft.
Nicholson said the government was setting up a toll-free number, 1-800-333-4636,
for veterans to call if they notice anything suspicious, as well as putting
information on a government Web site, www.firstgov.gov.
Nicholson identified the employee as a male career department worker, not a
political appointee or senior official, who had legitimate access to the data at
work as part of a project.
He said the employee "took home a considerable amount of electronic data from
the VA which he was not authorized to do. It was in violation of our rules and
regulations and policies."
An FBI spokesman said the matter was referred to the FBI last week and the
agency was investigating. The FBI was asked to get involved because it related
to the theft of U.S. government property.
Nicholson said there is no indication that the employee intended to do anything
wrong with the data beyond improperly taking it home.
Nicholson said it was possible some people whose data has been stolen are dead,
and that data on some veterans discharged before 1975 was included. No medical
records and no financial information was compromised, Nicholson said.
But Nicholson said the data included information on some veterans' physical
disabilities.
Identity theft, or obtaining the personal or financial information of another
person in order to assume that person's name to make transactions, has
mushroomed in recent years with the growth of the Internet and electronic
business.
(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles)