(Data of) 535,000 on lost VA hard drive

[Doondoo]

Personal information on 535,000 people could be on a portable computer hard drive missing from the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center, a Department of Veterans Affairs investigation says.

The 535,000 number is more than 10 times the number of people originally said to be on the missing drive.

The hard drive also may have included data, not all of it sensitive, on about 1.3 million non-VA physicians, both living and dead, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson said in a statement.

VA spokesman Matt Burns said the information on the hard drive was being used as part of a nationwide study and was therefore not confined to Alabama.

"It's standard research into how best care can be improved," Burns said.

VA officials expect this week to begin notifying people who may have been affected. There is no indication yet that any of the data has been misused. The VA is making arrangements to provide one year of free credit report monitoring to people if their personal information is compromised.



http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1171275485290720.xml&coll=2

[marmar]

1. I'm going to put on my tinfoil hat and say this is intentional at this point....

Part of the NeoCon effort to prove that government is broken, so it needs to be abolished. :tinfoilhat:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Is it just me, or....

why do they put this stuff on laptops and walk around with it? Is there really a need for that?

[Monkeyman]

3. This May Not Be All

Remember last time first and second report said only 45,000 Veterans and Active Duty Data was missing. It turned out to be 26.6 Million Veterans and all of the active duty personal of the Navy

[kineneb]

4. not again!?

What is sensitive information doing wandering about unsecured on a laptop? I don't know about anyone else here, but these "disappearances" look fishy to me.

[maxrandb]

5. Heck of a Job Jimbo

Jesus! Isn't there one fucking competent person in this administration. All of them..from the Pretzledent on down to the person he appointed as Dog-Catcher in bum-fuck Iowa...must think they have that job the George Costanza had. Remember the one where he just sat at his desk doing nothing for 8 hours a day?

I've got fucking "incompetence overload" from this bunch of coke addled "C" Students.

Enough is "E-FUCKING-NUFF"! This was supposed to be the CEO pretzledent. We were told, "Don't worry about it, he'll appoint smart people around him", and "hey! wouldn't you like to have a beer with him?". I'm sorry, but you just can't fix stupid. And these are the stupidest, most incompetent, under-achieving ass-pickles I've ever seen in my life.

[durtee librul]

6. WOW....is that how you REALLY feel?

LMFAO!!!! I couldn't agree with you more. Just when you think they can't do anything more stupid, they do.

BTW, my dad is one of the vets who wasn't 'affected' by the last 'loss.' Guess what, we pulled his credit report (my dad ALWAYS paid $$ - doesn't believe in credit) and he had 6 credit cards in his name! He about went ten toes up.

So here's my tinfoil take on it all - Bushco needs SSN for all his illegals so they can 'assimilate' into society, and who else can he so easily rape than the vets? Again, I might add.

Yepper, I think there is more to these 'disappearances' than originally meets the eye. I work for a large corporation (big 3 auto) and we aren't allowed to take our laptops anywhere that is not secure.

[maxrandb]

7. I'll put on my tin-foil hat

and play as well. What is one thing that despots, dictators, criminals and fascist know? It's that if you want to control people...fear is a good way to do it.

Suppose all this "accidental" loss of personal information, is not really so "accidental"? If the shit hits the fan, wouldn't powerful people like to have as much information as possible? For example:

- "I see Mr. Smith by your video rental records, that you like to rent porn. You wouldn't want the world to find out about that, would you?

or,

- "Gee Mr. Smith, it says here on your VA records that you were treated for several years for depression. How would your boss treat that info?"

I'm finding it harder and harder to accept that this is all the result of incompetence. Nobody is as fucked-up as these people are at doing their jobs. Perhaps the "accidental" loss of personal VA data, and other data, is not that "accidental". If I were a Dem candidate, or anyone opposed to this junta, I'd be checking my credit card records...BIG TIME!

[outofbounds]

8. You have to love that last line

VA officials expect this week to begin notifying people who may have been affected. There is no indication yet that any of the data has been misused. The VA is making arrangements to provide one year of free credit report monitoring to people if their personal information is compromised.

Its a little late if your credit has been compromised. These people really should be held accountable. Unbelievable.

I'll bet they have already lost several computers and this is just a way to get people used to the idea they're credit is about to be screwed.

Removes tin foil for now.
:spank: Whoever lost the computer.

[AnOhioan]

9. 101,294,672

TOTAL number of records containing sensitive personal information involved in security breaches
(since 4-20-05)
Folks, that is fully 1/3 of the US population. 1 out of every 3 people.

[MadMaddie]

10. So I say again..

Why is this information not blocked from being downloaded on laptops.

Why are these people taking Vets personal information home on their laptops.

Why isn't the network configured so they can remote access through massive Fire walls and then access the data if they are out visiting vets?

At this point this is criminal, if a private company continued to lose personal information of their clients they would be fined or even prosecuted.

[tom_paine]

11. Imperial SS is quietly stealing all the intelligence on Americans they need

These are merely the "start-up-costs" of staring the Imperial Amerikan Secret Police.

Most or ALL of this "missing data" is in the hand of Busheviks, who are preparing their Total Information Awareness on us, I would bet money.