AP: Personal data stolen on 2.2 million active-duty military Not 50K

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060607/D8I32RVO1.html

Jun 6, 9:37 PM (ET)

By HOPE YEN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Personal data on about 2.2 million active-duty military, Guard and Reserve personnel - not just 50,000 as initially believed - were among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month, the government said Tuesday.

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the agency was mistaken when it said over the weekend that up to 50,000 Navy and National Guard personnel - and no other active-duty personnel - were affected by the May 3 burglary.

In fact, names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of as many as 1.1 million active-duty personnel from all the armed forces - or 80 percent of all active-duty members - are believed to have been included, along with 430,000 members of the National Guard, and 645,000 members of the Reserves.

"VA remains committed to providing updates on this incident as new information is learned," Nicholson said in a statement, explaining that it discovered the larger numbers after the VA and Pentagon compared their electronic files more closely.

His announcement came shortly after the Pentagon distributed a briefing memo to Congress - obtained by The Associated Press - that said the 50,000 figure cited over the weekend was understated.

The disclosure is the latest in a series of revisions by the government as to who was affected since publicizing the burglary on May 22. At the time, the VA said the stolen data involved up to 26.5 million veterans discharged since 1975, as well as some of their spouses.


Separately, a Democratic activist also has sued the VA in federal court in Cincinnati.

More at link....
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[Kagemusha]

1. Let me put this another way...

Is there any active duty servicemember or living veteran whose data was NOT stolen in this incident?

(crickets chirping)

[MADem]

2. I got a two page "ooooopsie" letter from those bastards today NT

[RagingInMiami]

3. Another inside job

This administration is doing the same to the military as it's been doing to its civilians; compiling a vast amount of personal data.

You know this will eventually be used to steal the election in the future. I don't know how, but I'm sure they got it figured out.

[MADem]

4. EVEN WORSE, PER WAPO: extent of the data loss "monumental."

The new revelations significantly increase the potential harm from what was already one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history. On May 22, VA disclosed that an external computer hard drive was stolen May 3 from the home of a VA employee and that it contained unencrypted names and birth dates for as many as 26.5 million veterans who were discharged after 1975 or submitted benefit claims. It also included Social Security numbers for 19.6 million of those veterans, VA officials said.

Initially VA thought that all of the 26.5 million people affected were veterans, but a database comparison revealed that they also included the bulk of active-duty military services, as well as more than 1 million members of the National Guard and reserves.

Montgomery County police released a description yesterday of the stolen laptop and its external hard drive because they said it may have been purchased by someone who does not realize the value of its content. "It could have shown up at a yard sale or a secondhand store," police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said. "This is a time of the year when parents may be buying computers for kids going to college in the fall."