Breaking: Personal data on 26 million veterans stolen...

[kpete]

US says personal data on millions of veterans stolen 39 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Personal data on about 26.5 million U.S. military veterans was stolen from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst who improperly took the material home, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said on Monday.

The data included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the veterans, Nicholson said, but "there is no indication at this time" that the data had been used for identify theft.

Nicholson said the theft of the data took place this month, but declined to identify the employee or the location of the burglary.

"The employee has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. We have a full-scale investigation going on in this," Nicholson told reporters by telephone. He said the FBI, local law enforcement authorities and his department's inspector general's office were looking into the matter.

more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060522/us_nm/crime_veterans_dc
via:
http://www.rawstory.com/

[DS1]

1. oh goddammit

Fucking Government

[Julius Civitatus]

23. Don't you feel safer with this bunch in power?

I mean, everyday there's a new outrage!

[papau]

29. IN other news the RNC announced the completion of a new direct mail list

of veterans - 26 million names.

Actually more likely is that the direct mail fellow Richard Vigure will announce he is doing a mailing to Vets via the free mail privledge given Congressmen and Senators - now made possible by a ruling of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales .

:-)

[DS1]

39. As much as I detest them, I'm not going to blame them because

some office douchebag decided it would be cool to take a text file home with all these records on it.

[columbusdem]

45. Corruption? Incompetence? I (sort of) don't care

I've gotten to the point where I almost don't care about whether this was intentional or in its infinite idiocy the admininstration let somebody slip off with this info, it is just further proof that we need dems in power as soon as possible. (Edited for grammatical foh-pah)

[Virginia Dare]

2. F*ck-in-A...

I'm trying so hard to keep my tinfoil hat in the closet here.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Bet that employee will get a Medal of Freedom! Nice work.

[lovuian]

4. This is sooo bad... when your own government can't

protect its veterans or military...

[howmad1]

81. But they can spy on every citizen in the USA.

Unfuckin believable.

[insane_cratic_gal]

5. No indication that the data has been used for identity theft!

Are they kidding?

No none at all.. everyone takes some light duty work home with them in form of 26million pieces of personal information!

Interestingly enough the other day we received information from USAA, (our insurance for military) informing us they were canceling some debt credit protection plan. We looked it over and thought it was strange because we don't have a credit card from them, nor do we have any form of debt credit protection! 3 days later we received another letter stating they sent us the letter in error and to ignore it because we didn't have said product.

Makes me very leery in connection with this bit of information

[rfranklin]

6. This is a private business problem as well....

Millions of identities are floating around, lost by Bank of America, various private companies, the government--all from unprotected, unencrypted laptops and desk computers. There are so many instances of this happening, I am beginning to see it as a conspiracy. Maybe a case for embedding chips in your body?

When the responsibility for damage down by such incompetence is established and enforced, these incidents will stop. But right now they can send a letter two weeks later and absolve themselves of any further liability.

[Lasher]

13. My online investment firm had some tapes stolen

The backup tapes contained personal information like this on thousands of their customers. My investment firm notified me, so they are not accountable now. This sucks! Holders of this type of information (maybe especially the VA and other government entities) need to be held fully accountable for allowing this kind of thing to occur. And punitive damages too. Otherwise there is no motive to make really really sure this information is protected.

Notice the VA employee was only placed on administrative leave. Hell, he should have been immediately maced and blackjacked, then set on fire!

Edit for typo.

[LiberalFighter]

69. How can your investment firm be off the hook just cause they notified you?

Just cause they tell you they are off the hook?

I would be having a stink about that major time.

[Lasher]

85. See reply 6 in this thread

"...they can send a letter two weeks later and absolve themselves of any further liability." It's not right, but that's the way it works. Ater that the company or government entity pretty much goes its merry way while the individuals could be condemned to endless hours of music on hold over the course of who knows how long, trying to recover from the damage that has been done.

You can raise a stink if you want, but all that's going to accomplish is waste more of your time.

For what it's worth, nothing much came of the incident when the investment firm lost the tapes that contained their customers' personal data. They might have been thrown in a dumpster somewhere.

[NWHarkness]

7. Push this! Push this! Push this!

Talk this story up with everyone you know.

It doesn't matter that it was a career bureaucrat and not a political appointee: he reported to a Bushie and the incompetence of the Bush regime is a factor in the situation.

Our message is clear: The GOP is incapable of running the government.

[BuyingThyme]

17. One more on the hugh pile of impeachable offenses by the Puke standard.

[jseankil]

19. I wouldn't link the Bush regime to this

Let people draw there own conclusions but actually trying to link the Bush team to this is misleading and could backfire.

[Beetwasher]

25. Nope, This Is A Nat'l Security Issue

Link away to Chimpy. Feel safe?

[jseankil]

31. What if the guy turns out to be a Dem? /nm

nm

[Lasher]

34. The person who is in charge is the one who should be held accountable

Last time I checked, unfortunately, that person is still the worst president we have ever had.

[Beetwasher]

36. Who The Fuck Cares? Ultimately, CHIMPY Is In Charge

Supposedly. Or one of his lackeys.

[Turbineguy]

52. If it were a democrat

they would have mentioned the name already.

[wordpix]

66. this smells-read post 49

[Divine Discontent]

58. they're so helpless! n/t

[madrchsod]

8. the dog ate my home work?

the guy took home all these files home which must have amounted to quite a few disks to run on his personal computer. of course no one in his dept wondered why he was downloading 26.5 million files.. then someone broke into his house and took all those disks. ya right

[Skittles]

18. aw thanks, madrchsod

as a veteran and an IT worker I call BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!

[RandomKoolzip]

9. Seems a little too pat, dunnit?

[paparush]

10. = Bush** Drops to 25% Approval Rating

The hits just keep on coming!!

[Avalux]

11. Something very wrong with this story.

They're saying it was just a burglary because the employee's neighborhood was prone to them. How did a burglar know to take this data and why?

Nope. This wasn't a burglary - something else going on here.

[insane_cratic_gal]

14. Yep! He got paid a nice incentive to look the other way

Probably in the form of 100k or so

Identity theft leads to falsified credit card applications and bunch of other stuff.

I wonder how many of those currently stolen were living

[nascar55]

32. I would say a

Lot. Info is on vets discharged since 1976 and one of them is me.....:wtf: :banghead:

[jseankil]

24. Any facts or just a 'gut feeling'?

Let's leave Bush to making decisions based on the 'gut feelings'. This very well could be a burglary. The info likely was on a laptop and if I'm a thief robbing homes of course I'm going to take a laptop sitting out.

[Avalux]

27. Yes, the obvious could be what happened

And I don't operate on gut feelings. Based on what the story provides me, I have questions. My nature as a researcher I suppose.

[hughee99]

43. It's possible that the burglar took a laptop,

(which is the kind of thing one might take) and that the data was on the laptop. The person may have no idea what data is on the system or how to access it. I doubt the files were in the form of 25 million individual text files.

[LiberalFighter]

70. That type of data should never be on a laptop

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

72. Well unless the guy's laptop with some disks got stolen or something.

[expatriot]

12. Wow, now that's fast reporting. Only 39 minutes after it happened. nt.

sarcasm, people. SARCASM!
"US says personal data on millions of veterans stolen 39 minutes ago."

[Fierce]

15. So...the cuts in benefits,

underfunded and understaffed VA, the complete "fuck you" the Bush administration has given veterans here and active service people abroad, just wasn't enough?

[BuyingThyme]

16. Yep. Every time I take that stuff home, some ethnic guy steals it.

I think he had a knife.

[sakabatou]

20. Sonofabitch

[Beetwasher]

21. Heh, Bet This Guys Got An Offshore Account

n/t

[Stinky The Clown]

22. Whew .... a bullet dodged ......

... this goes back to 1975 and later discharges.

Sometimes it pays to be an old guy.

[Love Bug]

35. Well, dammit, that includes me.

Discharged in 77.

[Glorfindel]

76. Yep...older'n dirt, here...discharged in 1968.

I may not matter, but at least my data didn't get stolen. Should I be strangely comforted? I guess so...

[DiverDave]

26. Christ on a crutch, they got me.

Damnit.
Just 1 year later and I would have been in the clear...just what I need, someone ruining my credit...after just starting to clean it up...it never ends.

[genie_weenie]

28. Big deal.

Vets are Soldiers who failed. A Soldiers duty is to die. Tommy Franks said so...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060521/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/franks_iraq

And if you don't agree I slap you around like a 15 year blabber mouth!

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/28/143854/703

[Berserker]

90. Then why is that John Wayne motherfucker still around?

Fuck you Franks you asshole.

[Jed Dilligan]

30. What, the VA losing records?

Unprecedented!

:sarcasm:

[MountainLaurel]

33. Here's the Wash Post article

Which provides a little background about the theft and sale of information:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/22/AR2006052200709.html

[Turbineguy]

53. and on that same page

this advertisement:

http://www.roboform.com/php/land.php?affid=wpi01&frm=frame15

Some sick sense of humor.

[ChiciB1]

63. Anymore, I Think It's Impossible WHAT To Think! There Are Many

reasons why this story is being told. Considering how CLOSELY Alberto wants to watch journalists and then indict them, does it not seem a bit strange that this type of thing gets reported?? My question is why is this story being told??

They can now come back and say, see we really NEED to monitor people BECAUSE of this type of theft and use it as a reason for THEIR NSA operations.

Quite frankly, I doubt that We The People will ever be told the truth, there will be suspicion, speculation, finger pointing and denial all around. Even IF they come out and tell "some" story, do we believe them? And the "them" who are THEY really?? Does anyone here REALLY think there will be some TRUTH in the end?? I DON'T! We are living in dangerous, dangerous times and here we sit!

PEOPLE... it's time to kick some ass!! We've got to MARCH!!

[bluerum]

37. This smells. They are covering their tracks. Now architects of this

scheme can blame some clerk for being a commie traitor thief. The people who planned it have the data they want and there is no trail back to them no matter what happens.

Look out for:

1. Voting fraud - dead men voting and the rest of it


2. Mailing campaigns


3. Recruiting campaigns from paramilitary/mercenary groups


4. Requests for political support and donations to support the military etc.

Can you tell that I think this is much more sinister than some clerk stealing some records? The clerk is a cover story and is probably a CIA/NSA plant. This very coincidental with the recent CIA/NSA head resignation/nomination events.


on edit: sp. :dunce:

[Maddy McCall]

38. This is infuriating.

You'd think that information that sensitive would be under lock and key, in a vault somewhere, not sitting in a briefcase on someone's dining table.

:grr:

[Hubert Flottz]

40. Yes But...

Other than this slight, smallish, "Glitch" the guy was doing a Heckuva job!

Roger on the thank gawd I'm a codger!

[Stand and Fight]

41. Wonderful....

Nice to know that I'm one of those unfortunates. If this were anyone else but the government's VA I would sue the bastards.

[987654321]

42. I don't get it.

I can't understand why in the hell someone would have reason to take such information home with them. It sounds very fishy to me.

[moggie]

84. Laptops

Likely he was using a laptop in the office to do legitimate work on the data. Why use a laptop? Well, maybe his job involved travel, or maybe (not uncommon in the public sector) he had a crappy old desktop machine and preferred using his laptop. I've had colleagues like that (but not handling sensitive data, I hasten to add). He shouldn't have taken the machine off the premises if the data wasn't securely encrypted, but I don't agree that this was necessarily sinister: more likely it's just a case of a dumb employee who took insufficient care. God knows there are plenty of those in government work...

[theHandpuppet]

88. Thank you -- a voice of sanity

I think this is a matter of computer security (a more widespread problem than most people can even imagine) than some gov't conspiracy.

[Boomer]

89. A very common security lapse

I work in the IT field, and this scenario sounds all too familiar as a lapse of common security procedures.

My entire office uses laptops rather than desktop models. The programmers often need to pull their laptop into a conference room, or they take them home to do overtime work. And almost all of our projects involve databases, so they need data to write procedures and test the returns, so it's not uncommon for them to download a database to their laptop. Fortunately, we don't handle sensitive information such as SSN or credit card numbers, but any programmer I've met could tell security-lapse tales that would curl your hair.

This isn't a Bush issue, it's a computer security issue. Our government agencies and corporations are often lacking in the both basic computer security procedures and terrible about enforcement even when they have procedures. It's an awareness and training obstacle and no one is willing to throw money at it.

[987654321]

93. Thanks, I didn't think of that.

And there are plenty of dumb employees everywhere, not just in government.

[The Wizard]

44. A criminal conspiracy by

the criminal Bushista junta. They've been on a bender trying to cut veterans benefits any which way possible. This is an open window waiting for a thief in the night named W. They tried reducing my benefits by 70% a few months ago because of a paper work snafu. These lying scumbags and fascists have to go, and the sooner the better. Let's hope the military leaders get some nads and remove at least one of these jerk offs.
Our pResident is a nut. I guess God told him to screw veterans because Paris Hilton needed a tax cut. Some people just need a good beating. With pain comes awareness. They should also be charged with a RICO violation.
This is a CCE (continuing criminal enterprise).

[Fritz67]

50. "screw veterans because Paris Hilton needed a tax cut"

Damn, that is a great sound bite. This just about sums up the whole Bush economic program, doesn't it? "Who cares if a few veterans lose their benefits, or get their identities stolen? The important work of this administration is to make sure that wealthy heiresses who did nothing to earn their money except pop out of the right vagina get to spend all their days partying."

[michreject]

46. I'm safe

:-) When I went into the Army in 1970, I didn't have my social security card with me. They issued one on the spot for me. They didn't want me to go home and then change my mind. All my military earnings were under this number. All my records are under this number.

I win.

[Lasher]

47. Wonder how much Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson gets paid?

I was just wondering how much money they have to come up with to attract a total jackass like that.

[Hubert Flottz]

86. Sad the big clusterflop but...

there goes some more of Bush's "BASE". Remember all the vets that were campaigning for the Beast? Even the Bullshit protectors were no match for Bushit! And I wonder if it means your ETS date, or the date your reserve obligation ended?

If someone stole Bush's idenity the cops might bust them for being AWOL for 30 years! Bush goes AWOL and America has to do 8 years of bad time! Life really sucks sometimes...

Somewhere in this great Bush clusterflop called umurikka, a Mexican dude named Bob Dole, is headed out to work!

[Greylyn58]

48. My father retired in 1976 after 30 years

of faithful service in the Marines and this is how he is repaid by possibly having his info stolen.

I am so sick of the crap spewing out of DC...the lies, the corruption, the utter stupidity... It just never ends with this mis-administration.

How can it be possible that all these records were allowed to be taken home???? How can we secure our country from outside forces if we can't even take care of our people from within...especially the people who have defended it.

Something about this story stinks to high heaven. Don't wanna wear a tin-foil hat, but....

[IndyOp]

49. ELECTIONS DAMN IT - PALAST SAYS DISENFRANCHISING VETS IS THE KEY

To stealing elections!!

GREG PALAST: And ‘08, so what's happening is there is no fix of the system. In other words, just like black folk get bad schools and bad hospitals, they get the bad voting machines, which are going to kill those votes. But they're not satisfied with just letting the ballots be thrown away. They're going to move it along. And one of the things I discovered is the Republican Party has something called “caging lists,” which came to our -- you know, just like you had Friday, the way the Yes Men capture material by using false websites, so through a false website we were able to capture Republican Party internal missives, through georgebush.org.

And so, what happened was is that they sent us a bunch of lists of literally tens of thousands of names of voters and addresses. We were wondering what the heck this was. It turns out these were almost all African American voters, who they were prepared to challenge in 2004, and they did, to say that these people shouldn't vote, because their addresses are suspect. And you'll see in the book that in the lists of thousands of black voters that they were challenging over their address were thousands of black soldiers who were sent to Iraq; go to Baghdad, and the Republican Party challenges your vote.

And that’s the beginning, and because there's been really no action taken, they're accelerating the system now. And the next thing that they’re going after is the Hispanic vote. So when we saw two million votes cast/not counted in 2000, nearly four million votes cast/not counted in 2004, you're going see that number massively increase in challenges to voters in 2008. And that's what's going back to this database story with the National Security Agency.

AMY GOODMAN: We have 30 seconds.

GREG PALAST: So, you have to say, “Why are they collecting this data?” The answer is 2008. It's ultimately all about the elections.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/15/1334249

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[wordpix]

64. OMFG - they are destroying our country

:nuke:

[ChiciB1]

67. Yeppers... I Talked About Palast & Amy Last Week When He Was

saying that elections are fraudulent and we could forget about 2008. I think he even made mention of 2006! I had forgotten that, thanks for the great pick-up on this.

We've got to make some HUGE noise some way... is it realistic to think that they are really that afraid of BLOGGERS??

Time to hitch up and ride, on the "horse with no name!" Does anyone have any ideas? We're sitting ducks here, just waiting for tidbits now and again. History is being RE-WRITTEN right before our eyes and we run to our computers and VENT! And that's ALL we're doing... venting!

And to those who would tell me to get out in my own community and get involved.... I HAVE! I won't repeat again the county I live in, seems I've said it too too many times already. I'll just say, it's not one that takes my views under consideration very much!

[phylny]

51. Here's my stupid question: Is it "veterans" as in those who have fought

in wars, or veterans as in those who have served in the military?

Thanks anyone for the clarification.

[peekaloo]

59. All military personnel discharged since 1975.

:-(

[BrklynLiberal]

54. Interesting. How long ago did this happen? When are they notifying

the Vets?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

55. BushCo National Security at work & typical of their treatment of veterans.

[DollyM]

56. Another reason not to give out personal information . . .

When we went to apply for a waiver on my husband's medical bills at the local VA hospital, they wanted bank account statements with bank numbers, how much we owed and too whom and so forth. I asked who would see this information and the girl replied "only me and me supervisor." Apparently, that is not always true . . . kind of scary! By the way, we recieved a letter from the "big VA" in Atlanta which is reconsidering the bills they waived because the income information they use is the last tax return which was from 2004. Even though our income now is considerably lower since my husband is having a great deal of health problems and has not been able to work. Pretty stupid isn't it!

[earth mom]

57. I've got my tinfoil hat on 'cause this story smells to high heaven.

:tinfoilhat:

p.s. My husband is a vet and I am also REALLY pissed! :argh:

[wordpix]

65. put it on because there's good reason to be totally paranoid

:tinfoilhat:

[Obamanaut]

60. What bothers me the most is that I am no longer surprised by

the stuff that goes on. I'm aggravated, angered, disappointed, but no longer surprised.

[Rainscents]

61. I hear yea...

It seems like, since Bush got SELECTED in 2000, I notice records of corporate employees and insurance company is being STOLEN??? And now this??? Something smells very bad. Look at Boeing, there's was compromised too few years ago.

[bonito]

62. Sounds like someone is expanding there data base

Big business nowadays, by hook or by crook no less.

[Point-X]

68. Personal data on 26 million veterans stolen?

My ASS!

Forgive the profanity......

I personally do not believe the "Stolen" excuse.

Look, how may times have we heard this same tired excuse.
UPS Backup tapes "stolen", Etc Etc. These guys are giving it up so fast it isn't funny.

There have been no less then a dozen "headlines" of "stolen" contact information. Total Information Awareness" or "Terrorist Information Awareness" Whatever you wanna call it, IS HERE!

I am sick of the losers that claim it to be ok for the "government" to track their calls. I am sick of these morons telling the world that if we do not like it we have something to hide. OUR RIGHTS ARE BEING TRAMPLED!

WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lars39]

71. Welcome to DU, Point-X.

Gotta be lots of money changing hands for all this data.

[bonito]

75. I feel where your coming from but

If it can be done, it will be done, and whose government would you like to see be doing it, argh, a bitter pill to take, the problem is that it is a self select group that has taken the initiation to do these things circumventing the governing principles of this country, those very principles that they are standing on, or better said defecating on, to further there goals (for the good of us all) but (all) having no voice.
Its all in checks and balances. Peace

[struggle4progress]

82. Amazin coinky-dink, ain't it. Guy takes it home, and damn! it's stolen.

[Hubert Flottz]

87. Nothing else missing from the place where the info was taken...

only the laptop and the missing VA records? That was what the guys on CBS were saying! Now that IS strange!

[LiberalFighter]

73. The file is at least 1.2 gigabytes in size

[jschurchin]

74. Great, just fuckin great.

[Corgigal]

77. So what do we do?

Where do we begin to monitor all this crap? Anyone have any suggestions ?

[DallasNE]

78. Fat Chance

"They believe that this was a random burglary and not targeted at this data," Nicholson said, adding that there had been a series of burglaries in that community. "It's highly probable that they do not know what they have," he said.

In the private sector employees have been unable to do this for around 20 years. My guess is that this was targeted with the "burglary" a cover.

[Old Vet]

79. I got lucky too, ETS-1974- That was close

Took me 25 years to straighten out my credit,This would really bite.

[magellan]

80. Got me too

I take such care with our personal information, only so the bleeding government can "lose" it for me instead.

I hate these bastards.

[zonmoy]

83. sounds like 26 million republican votes are guaranteed.

[TheCowsCameHome]

91. I feel so secure now that the Repugs control security in the US

Are you kidding me?

[Sad4world]

92. Illegal migration of data

Send in the National Guard to put a fence around all data collecting corporations including the NSA.

That'll fix it. Yea, that'll fix it.