VA to fire data analyst responsible for records breach

[The Straight Story]

VA to fire data analyst responsible for records breach

By Daniel Pulliam
[email protected]

The Veterans Affairs Department announced Tuesday that it has initiated the process of firing the data analyst who took home sensitive personal information on 26.5 million veterans, putting them at risk for identify theft when those records were stolen four weeks ago.

VA Secretary James Nicholson has said the unnamed data analyst violated department policy by taking home unencrypted records containing the names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for veterans discharged since 1975 and those receiving VA disability compensation. According to VA officials, the career employee, who had worked at the agency for more than 30 years, had been taking sensitive data home since 2003.

In addition, the department is replacing the leadership of the division in which the data analyst worked.

Dennis Duffy, acting assistant secretary for policy and planning, was put on administrative leave and temporarily replaced by Paul Hutter, assistant general counsel for management and operations. Hutter will lead the VA's Policy and Planning Office while the Senate considers the recent nomination of Patrick W. Dunne for the assistant secretary job.

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=34215&dcn=todaysnews

[unhappycamper]

1. "....taking sensitive data home since 2003"

:wtf:

[sdfernando]

2. Well, that didn't take long!

Well, that didn't take long! /sarcasm off

[w4rma]

3. I'm surprised he wasn't promoted to Cabinet Secretary with this group (nt)

[tanyev]

4. Oh, there could still be a Medal of Freedom in his future.

[Skidmore]

5. Was that laptop the only thing stolen from this man's home? What

are the chances of that happening?

[Richard Steele]

6. Stolen laptop makes sense. BUT a stack of data CDs? Who steals those?

Someone who knew exactly what they were, and went there
specifically to steal them, that's who.
No ordinary thief would bother with something like that.

I think this entire ALLEGED burglary is BS, oh yes I do...
And I'd like to see the FBI going through the financial
records of this fellow who started taking records home
in 2003.