Govt. reports 788 cases of lost data

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON - Federal workers at 19 agencies have lost personal information affecting thousands of employees and the public, raising fresh concerns about the government's ability to protect sensitive information.

Most of the data was lost or stolen. In a few cases, it was accessed by computer hackers, according a report released Friday by the House Government Reform Committee. Government contractors were responsible for many of the security breaches.

In all, the committee reported 788 incidents involving the loss or compromise of sensitive personal information since Jan. 1, 2003. That was in addition to the "hundreds of security and privacy incidents" at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the report said.

"Data loss is a government-wide occurrence," the report said. "The vast majority of data losses arose from physical thefts of portable computers, drives and disks or unauthorized use of data by employees."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061014/ap_on_go_ot/lost_laptops

[Erika]

1. This happened under W's watch?

The gang who couldn't shoot straight.

[lonestarnot]

2. Cept for shoot- em -in- the- face- dick and that was an "accident."

[MercutioATC]

3. This happened to me 2 weeks ago.

I'm an air traffic controller at Cleveland Center in Oberlin, Ohio. On Sep. 29, a hard drive was stolen from one of the computers in our training department that contained our names and SSNs. A full week after he theft, we were notified at work. Today (2 weeks later) I got a certified letter from the FAA notifying me that my personal data had been stolen.

No offer of paying for fraud protection...just a notice that they had let my personal information be stolen.

[Rex]

4. Hey, the VA told me everything was okay and mission accomplish.

That letter I got makes me feel all better now. :sarcasm: