WASHINGTON - Thieves took sensitive personal information on 26.5 million U.S. veterans, including Social Security numbers and birth dates, after a Veterans Affairs employee improperly brought the material home, the government said Monday.
The information involved mainly those veterans who served and have been discharged since 1975, said VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. Data of veterans discharged before 1975 who submitted claims to the agency may have been included.
Nicholson said there was no evidence the thieves had used the data for identity theft, and an investigation was continuing.
"It's highly probable that they do not know what they have," he said in a briefing with reporters. "We have decided that we must exercise an abundance of caution and make sure our veterans are aware of this incident."
It is highly probable that they do not know what they have? Well, they do now! Continuing with the story:
Nicholson declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, which involved a midlevel data analyst who had taken the information home to suburban Maryland on a laptop to work on a department project.
The residential community had been a target of a series of burglaries when the employee was victimized earlier this month, according to the
FBI in Baltimore. Local law enforcement and the VA inspector general were also investigating.
This is gross incompetence on the part of the Veteran's Administration. First, they should have never allowed this analyst to take home this private information on his laptop, which was then stolen. This type of project should never have been worked on at home.
I really don't know what to say here. It is incredible.
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