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DEFENSE CONTRACTOR COMPROMISES PERSONAL DATA
OF 580,000 MILITARY FAMILIES -- Could include
combinations
of names, addresses, Social Security numbers,
birth dates
and/or limited health information of TRICARE
members.
VA data loss information is here...
http://vawatchdog.org/va%20data
%20theft%20news.htm
Story here...
http://www.signonsandiego.
com/news/business/20070721
-9999-1b21saic.html
Story below:
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SAIC says data may have been breached
Information involves 580,000 military families
By Bruce V. Bigelow
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
SAIC said yesterday that a computerized database containing personal
information on military personnel and their families in about 580,000
households may have been compromised.
The San Diego defense contractor, also known as Science Applications
International Corp., was processing the data under contracts related to
TRICARE, the health benefits program for the armed services, retirees
and their families.
The company said the personal information varies, “but could include
combinations of names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates
and/or limited health information in the form of codes.”
The health care database included service members of the Navy, Army, Air
Force and Department of Homeland Security.
The information was stored on a single SAIC-owned, nonsecure server in
Shalimar, Fla., SAIC spokeswoman Melissa Koskovich said by e-mail
yesterday. In some cases, data were transmitted over the Internet in an
unencrypted form.
“Forensic analysis has not yet yielded any evidence that any personal
information was actually compromised or that anyone 'broke in' to the
server,” Koskovich wrote.
“There's a little bit of mystery about it,” said Alan Paller, director
of research for the SANS Institute, a Maryland-based cooperative for
system administrators and network security. “What you got was enticing,
but it's hard to tell from their statement what happened. We don't know
enough to even hypothesize.”
The company told The Associated Press that it was notified May 29 by the
Air Force in Europe that it had detected an unsecured transmission of
health care information. SAIC said it has since fixed the security
problems and advised the people who might be affected.
Koskovich could not say what percentage of the 580,000 households are
deployed overseas. Those people probably would face the biggest
hardships in trying to deal with any problems.
The biggest risk in such incidents usually is identity theft, in which
criminals use someone's Social Security number and other personal
information to authenticate fraudulent purchases and drain bank
accounts.
SAIC said it has arranged to provide free assistance to affected people
through Kroll Inc., which will provide information on credit, fraud and
identity-theft matters. Kroll also will staff an “incident response
center” with extended hours for the convenience of service members
posted overseas.
The largest breach of consumer information was disclosed in March by the
TJX Cos., the Massachusetts-based operator of off-price retailers such
as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. The company said credit-and debit-card data
on at least 45.7 million customers were stolen through a massive,
long-term electronic break-in.
Bruce Bigelow: (619) 293-1314;
bruce.bigelow@uniontrib.com
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Larry Scott --
