Data on 26.5 million veterans stolen from home

[David]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Authorities waited almost three weeks to alert the public that personal data on more than 26 million U.S. veterans had fallen into the hands of thieves, a government source said Tuesday.

The data were on a laptop and external drive stolen May 3 in an apparent random burglary from the Montgomery County, Maryland, home of a Department of Veterans Affairs computer analyst, said the government source, who has been briefed on the issue.

The government did not immediately announce the theft because officials had hoped to catch the culprits and did not want to tip them off about what they had stolen for fear they would sell it, the government source said.

On Monday, officials abandoned that plan and alerted the public.

The computer disk contained the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of every living veteran from 1975 to the present, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday.

Nicholson told reporters that the FBI and the department's inspector general are investigating the matter.

Nicholson and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said there was no indication that the information has been misused.

The missing data do not include health records or financial information, the department said. They do include some disability ratings and data on some veterans' spouses.

Nicholson said the analyst has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation but that no "ulterior motive" is suspected. The analyst is a longtime department employee but was not authorized to take the information home, he said.

Nicholson disclosed few details about the theft, citing the investigation. But he told CNN earlier, "We think that it wasn't a targeted burglary.

"They weren't after this [data]," he said. "There's a pattern of these kind of burglaries in this neighborhood."

But the missing information could be gold for electronic identity thieves, who operate hundreds of Internet sites where personal information is bought and sold.

"It's a pretty dire situation," said Rutrell Yasin, technology editor of Federal Computer Week, which covers computer and information technology issues in the federal government. "You have to hope that information is not in the hands of people who know what to do with it."

Yasin said the theft should be a wake-up call to federal agencies.

"They should certainly have the necessary security on their computers, secure communications links that would protect personal data," Yasin said.

Gonzales and Deborah Platt Majoras, chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, lead the Bush administration's identity theft task force. Gonzales vowed federal prosecutors would have "zero tolerance" for anyone implicated in trafficking in veterans' personal data.

"We have no reason to believe at this time that the identity of these veterans have been compromised," he said. "But we feel an obligation to alert veterans so that they can take the appropriate steps to protect this information."

The VA sent a letter to veterans informing them of the stolen data. Anyone with questions can contact the agency at (800) 333-4636 or through the federal government's Web portal, www.firstgov.gov.

The FBI said its Baltimore, Maryland, field office is investigating, and Gonzales said the bureau was working in conjunction with local authorities.

Nicholson vowed to take steps to ensure such a mistake is not repeated, including mandatory security training in the next month for all employees with access to private information.

Lawmakers cite concerns
Lawmakers also expressed concerns about the stolen data.

Sen. Larry Craig, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, said Monday that all veterans should be "vigilant" in monitoring their financial information for suspicious activity.

"I've got to ask -- and certainly I have to ask it of not only the VA but all of government -- why can a data analyst take all of this information home?" the Idaho Republican said. "That's a breach of security -- in today's concern about ID theft -- that is huge.

"Of course, I think it awakened the secretary to the vulnerability within his own organization, and that's true, I would guess, across government."

Rep. Steve Buyer, Craig's counterpart in the House, said he is "deeply concerned."

"I expect VA's inspector general and the FBI to work closely together so that we can identify and eliminate the flaws that allowed this leak and prosecute any criminal acts," the Indiana Republican said in a written statement.

"I know that VA is taking steps to notify veterans and provide help on consumer identity protection. The committee will examine this incident in the context of previous data compromises, to ensure that veterans' information is safeguarded."

[MORTARDUDE]

The 26 million figure quoted in their news releases, per their web site, is every living US veteran not just from 1975 on.


The following was in our newspaper this morning...

".... "I want to emphasize there was no medical records of any veteran and no financial information of any veteran that's been compromised," Nicholson said, but he added later that some information on the veterans' disabilities may have been taken.

Nicholson said he does NOT know how many of the department's 235,000 employees go thorough background investigations. He said employees who have access to large volumes of personal data SHOULD be required to undergo such checks, but he does not believe the VA employee was involved in the theft. " ........"

HMMMMMMMM

[Arrow]

Estimated Number of Living Veterans in Civilian Life by Period of Service (Era)

As of Sept. 30, 2005 except where noted Adjusted estimates based on 2000 Census and other sources
Gulf War era to date (1)	4,377,845
Iraq/Afghanistan (theater) (2)	433,396
Desert Shield/Storm (theater) (3)	615,133
Vietnam War era	8,054,993
Korean Conflict era	3,256,925
World War II era	3,525,769
World War I era (4)	Approx.50
Peacetime service	6,231,463
Total living veterans	24,387,036

Note: Sum of era lines will exceed total number of veterans

due to veterans who served in multiple periods.


Source: Except where noted, VetPop2004 model, v.1.0

Additional Notes For counts of those serving in wars (regardless of vital status or veteran status today), as well as deaths and wounds in service, see America's Wars at www.va.gov/opa/fact/amwars.html Excludes active-duty military in the service today. As titled, this chart represents discharged veterans in civilian life. However, it may include reservists and Guard members called to federal service and who currently are on active duty. Except where noted for theater service (Iraq/Afghanistan and Desert Shield/Storm), the totals are based on Census data representing period of service ? i.e., the World War II veterans tally represents all living veterans who served during the time period of World War II regardless of whether they were in a combat zone. Similarly, the "Vietnam era" period of service includes veterans who may only have served in U.S. locations during the Vietnam War -- as well as those serving in southeast Asia. (1) Includes first-year (Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm) plus service to date, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan); the Gulf War Era set by Executive Order has never been closed. (2) This represents veterans who were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom and were separated from active duty through July 31, 2005. Source: Environmental Epidemiology Service (3) This represents living, separated veterans among those actually deployed to Southwest Asia during the first year of the Gulf War, from August 2, 1990, through July 31, 1991 (Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm). Source: Veterans Benefits Administration (GWVIS). (4) WW I veterans figure of approximately 50 is an actuarial projection based on data from the 1990 Census and is of questionable reliability. WW I veterans were not counted as a separate category in the 2000 Census. Their number is too small and diminishing too rapidly to estimate it with confidence. As of September 2005, VA counted eight in receipt of monthly financial benefits from VA; it is not known how many may also have served in WWII and are counted on VA's rolls as WWII veterans.

Estimated Deaths in FY06 (Sept. 30, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006)
All Veterans .................................................. ... 687,576 (averages to 1,884 per day)

World War II veterans (subset of above) ......... 374,288 (averages to 1,025 per day)

[Arrow]

Veterans and Dependents on the
Compensation and Pension Rolls as of
September, 2005

	VETERANS	CHILDREN	PARENTS	SURVIVING SPOUSES
Civil War	-	3	-	-
Indian Wars	-	-	-	-
Spanish-American War	-	135	-	163
Mexican Border	1	20	-	81
World War I	8	4,140	-	9,388
World War II	466,118	16,207	311	240,054
Korean Conflict	230,978	3,500	523	61,856
Vietnam Era	1,067,674	10,475	3,991	144,982
Gulf War (1)	616,663	11,772	704	11,417
Nonservice-connected	335,787	21,466	-	191,540
Service-connected	2,636,979	28,711	7,029	309,744

[Boats]

Good stats Arrow - what number of these are two or more timers into the war zone or are these strictly those who've been there? Many of us have been there more than once.

[Arrow]

Boats,

I got the stats from the Veterans Administration website. Within the first document it is stated:

Except where noted for theater service (Iraq/Afghanistan and Desert Shield/Storm), the totals are based on Census data representing period of service ? i.e., the World War II veterans tally represents all living veterans who served during the time period of World War II regardless of whether they were in a combat zone. Similarly, the "Vietnam era" period of service includes veterans who may only have served in U.S. locations during the Vietnam War -- as well as those serving in southeast Asia.

[SEATJERKER]

...

...It doesn't seem to matter,...

...their all going to phuck us in the end,...

...

[Gimpy]

VA called slow on security, theft

May 24, 2006

BY HOPE YEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Veterans Affairs officials didn't fully heed warnings dating to 2001 to tighten access to personal data for the millions of U.S. veterans, investigators said Tuesday.

And the Justice Department said it wasn't told about the theft of information on 26.5 million veterans until late last week -- about two weeks after it was taken from a VA employee's home. The department issued a public warning about the theft Monday.

In a briefing paper to Congress, VA Inspector General Jon Wooditch said he was reviewing the theft from a VA data analyst's home, noting that his office had long cautioned that access controls were weak. Since 2001, the inspector general has reported lax security related to the operating system, passwords and a lack of strong detection alerts, he wrote.

The VA said Monday that the personal information -- mainly from veterans discharged since 1975 -- was stolen in a government-owned laptop with disks in what appeared to be a routine burglary in early May. Included were Social Security numbers, birth dates and in some cases the numbers that rate the severity of the veterans' disabilities.

David Farber, a former Federal Communications Commission official and a professor of computer science and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, said such information doesn't belong outside a secure environment.

"Even if someone only stole the laptop for the hardware, they can find a market for the information," he said.

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday that the analyst had taken the information home to work on a department project. The employee has been placed on leave.

Nicholson said there was no evidence the burglars used the information or knew they had it.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, said his panel would hold a hearing Thursday because "26 million people deserve answers." Nicholson was expected to testify.
------end------

The VA's "Lost Data" Puts Veterans at Risk;
Congress Must Investigate



(Washington, D.C.) ? ?The recent statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs about the loss of social security numbers and other data for 26.5 million veterans does not add up, literally,? said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America, ?and VVA calls upon Congress to begin immediate hearings on this appalling situation.

?There are only about 26.5 million living American veterans, and only a fraction of these have ever sought anything from the VA. More than two-thirds of us separated from the military well before the 1975 date that the VA alleges. So, the real story is: Why did VA have this data in the first place? How did they collect it? And why did they collect it? For what purpose??

VA said in a prepared statement this week that a data analyst had taken the data home to ?work on it.? VVA questions what kind of work was this person?or anyone at VA doing?on data that the VA may not have legal or legitimate right to possess without the specific permission of the individual citizens involved.

?The real story here may be hidden in plain sight,? Rowan went on to say, ?it is questionable that this data should have been in the possession of VA or anyone other than the Social Security Administration for strictly narrow and legally defined purposes. Did VA share it with some other public or private entity for some other purpose? Was the story about to be leaked by someone that accounts for the timing of the VA disclosure? Why did the VA wait nineteen days to notify veterans? There are many questions that remain to be answered here.?

The VA has put veterans at risk for identity theft. If this were the private sector, they would be required to provide each veteran with free credit reporting services so that they could monitor their financial information. VVA urges veterans to monitor all of their banking and credit statements to insure that the VA has not compromised their personal information. We call on the VA to assist the compromised veterans.

VVA also calls upon the leaders in the House and Senate to conduct immediate hearings on this disgraceful situation.
-------end--------

Fallout from Veterans' Information Theft

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - May 24, 2006 - Under intense fire from Capitol Hill, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Wednesday he was outraged by his agency's decision to keep the theft of veterans' personal data quiet for two weeks.


"I will not tolerate inaction and poor judgment when it comes to protecting our veterans," said Nicholson, declaring that he initially left it to VA investigators rather than calling the FBI.


"I am outraged at the loss of this veterans' data and the fact an employee would put it at risk by taking it home in violation of our policies," he said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Upon notification, my first priority was to take all actions necessary to protect veterans from harm."


He said he had asked the department's inspector general to expedite an investigation to determine who was responsible for the time delay in revealing the burglary.


Nicholson's remarks come amid growing outrage from lawmakers over the May 3 theft, which involved the birthdates and Social Security numbers of 26.5 million veterans. The VA employee had taken the information home without authorization.


On Wednesday, Sen. Patrick Leahy said President Bush should call Nicholson "into the woodshed" because of the theft of personal data involving some 26.5 million veterans. Citing past budget problems at the VA, Leahy said Nicholson should consider resigning.


"It all adds up to a heckuva bad job for America's veterans," said Leahy, D-Vt. "The President should call Secretary Nicholson into the woodshed for a serious shake-up in how the VA is run."


Burglars on May 3 took the government-owned laptop and disks from the VA employee's suburban Maryland home. The equipment contained information mainly on veterans discharged since 1975.


But the FBI was not notified until late last week, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday, a move that delayed a warning to veterans now at risk in one of the nation's largest security breaches.


The Senate Homeland Security Committee and the Committee on Veterans Affairs said they would hold a joint emergency hearing Thursday and call Nicholson to testify. "Twenty-six million people deserve answers," said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, chair of the VA panel.


-------end--------

[Seascamp]

I seriously doubt there is any appropriation level or scheme that can offset indifference, malicious non-compliance, malicious compliance, elitist arrogance and the prevailing deep vacuum void of operational supervision. The individual in question is alleged to be a ?computer analyst? and if that be the case, there are no excuses for such a hideous breach of database security. Pick a number, but maybe as much as 10% of active USA SSn?s and personal I.D. are on the street now. And it?s not just Vets that will pay the ultimate price.

In keeping up with the immigration situation and various scams, it is now obvious that the primo A-number one item is an active SSn, from any source. From that comes a driver?s license, bank accounts, the vote, an appearance of legality, on and on.

I truly fear for our younger Vets with Hispanic ser names, for they will be the first to get bulldozed, replicated and steam rolled. Identity theft does not necessarily equate to financial theft these days, and that is a huge hole in the net to exploit.

Speaking of Databases, a recent Denver Post allegation has it that there are some 16,000 US Armed Forces members that have no country of origin in their database file; these 16,000 are alleged to be spread among the USN, USMC, USAF and US Army.

The Post argument being made is that Hispanic Illegals are being taken in and used as ignorant and unwilling cannon fodder in Iraq. Begs two questions, first being is how the Denver Post got into the DOD database. And then the second question is obvious. The Post asserts that all bets are off in terms of US Armed Forces recruitment and screening, as we have known it to be.

The Post is up to bat, but has been remarkably silent once their allegations were challenged and, of course, requests for substation have gone unanswered. I may be well out of date, but I do recall that there is a lot of paperwork and background checks involved and have heard nothing about all that going by the boards.

Seems as someone around here would be current on recruitment procedures and pop a huge flair if there were something fishy going on.

Scamp

[Arrow]

?The recent statement from the Department of Veterans Affairs about the loss of social security numbers and other data for 26.5 million veterans does not add up, literally,? said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America"


Yep!


"The stars may lie but the numbers never do"