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38,000 VETS TO GET FREE CREDIT MONITORING --
Unisys to pay for reports for one year.
All information on VA data theft on this
page...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/va%20data%20theft%20news.htm
Story here...
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/15235657.htm
Story below:
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Credit protection due vets in data theft
HOPE YEN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Millions of veterans and active-duty troops whose sensitive
personal information was lost by the Veterans Affairs Department will
receive some form of credit protection against identity theft, the
government said Wednesday.
Separately, the Transportation Department inspector general's office
said that one of its laptop computers containing names, birth dates and
Social Security numbers for 132,955 Florida residents was stolen July 27
from a government vehicle in suburban Miami.
Transportation officials were helping police investigate the theft of
the laptop, which was stolen in Doral, Fla. It is believed to contain
data for about 80,667 people issued commercial driver's licenses in the
Miami-Dade County area; 42,792 Florida residents holding airman
certificates; and 9,496 individuals who obtained personal or commercial
driver licenses in Largo near Tampa.
The laptop was protected by a password, and there was no evidence the
data has been used illegally, the department said.
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said his department had arranged for a data
analysis company to detect potential patterns of credit misuse for up to
26.5 million veterans whose names, birth dates and Social Security
numbers were on a laptop and hard drive taken last May from a VA data
analyst's Maryland home.
VA subcontractor Unisys Corp. also agreed to provide one year of free
credit monitoring for as many as 38,000 veterans after the company last
week lost a desktop computer containing their data at its offices in
Reston, Va.
Letters will be sent in coming days to veterans affected in the Unisys
case describing how to sign up for the free credit monitoring.
"Protecting veterans from fraud and abuse remains an important priority
for VA," Nicholson said in a written statement. "Data breach analysis
will provide VA with additional assurances that veterans' personal
information remains unharmed."
The VA said ID Analytics, of San Diego, will provide the extra level of
protection for those whose records were taken in the May 3 burglary.
In that case, the FBI recovered the laptop and hard drive and determined
with a "high degree of confidence" that the data wasn't accessed or
copied. Two teens were arrested last Saturday in what now appears to
have been a routine burglary.
ID Analytics will provide an initial analysis of several industries to
determine if there has been any suspicious activity involving the
veterans' information. It will then provide followup reports every three
months for an unspecified period at no cost to veterans or the
government, the VA said.
The VA is struggling to repair its image following the high-profile
theft last May, which prompted more than a dozen congressional hearings
and a blistering VA inspector general's report faulting both the VA
employee and his superiors for poor judgment and lax security policies.
Nicholson pledged to make the VA a model for information security. But
the VA's announcement on Monday that Unisys had lost data for veterans
who received care in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh prompted fresh
criticism.
"VA remains unwavering in its resolve to become the leader in protecting
personal information, training and educating our employees in best
practices," Nicholson said.
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Larry Scott
