The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Monday warned
military veterans about the potential for identity theft after
personal data on up to 26.5 million VA clients was stolen from an
analyst's home.
The unidentified VA analyst violated agency policy by taking
home data containing the names, Social Security numbers and dates
of birth of the veterans and their spouses, the VA said in a
statement. The agency has placed the analyst on administrative
leave while it conducts an investigation into the data theft.
The break-in occurred this month, the VA said. The stolen data
did not include any VA electronic health records or financial
information. As of Monday, there is no evidence of the stolen data
being used in ID theft schemes, and authorities believe it's
unlikely the thieves were targeting the data during the break-in,
the VA said.
The VA did not immediately identify how the data was stored in
the analyst's home.
The VA has briefed the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission about the data theft, and President George
Bush's Identity Theft Task Force has already begun alerting credit
bureaus about the potential problems, the VA said.
As of Monday, the VA was not advising veterans to contact credit
bureaus or their financial institutions unless they suspected
suspicious activity.
The VA has ordered all employees to complete a cybersecurity
awareness course by June 30, and all employees with access to
sensitive data will be required to undergo a new background check,
the agency said.
Veterans concerned about ID theft can go to http://www.firstgov.gov or http://www.va.gov/opa for more
information. The VA has also set up a call center for information
on the data theft and consumer identity protections. That toll-free
number is +1-800-FED INFO (333-4636). The call center, opening
Monday, will operate from 8 am to 9 p.m. EDT Mondays through
Saturdays for "as long as it is needed," the VA said.
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