ATTN VETS:MISSING LAPTOP REPORTED FOUND

[Sam]

I hope it is true and no data was taken from the laptop.
It is still scarey that our data ( and anyone else's) can be so easily compromised in such manner.
*************************************************************

VA chief says laptop with vets’ data recovered
Nicholson says no incidents of identity theft reported since burglary


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032525/

From the article. Keep checking the link as the story is developing

Updated: 14 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The government has recovered the stolen laptop computer containing sensitive data for up to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced Thursday.
..............

[flyboy55]

I hope it is true and no data was taken from the laptop.
It is still scarey that our data ( and anyone else's) can be so easily compromised in such manner.
*************************************************************

VA chief says laptop with vets’ data recovered
Nicholson says no incidents of identity theft reported since burglary

From the article. Keep checking the link as the story is developing

Updated: 14 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The government has recovered the stolen laptop computer containing sensitive data for up to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced Thursday.
..............

Hopefully, the laptop didn't spend much time in the hands of computer-savvy folks.

[Sam]

Well the data on that lappy was "susposedly/allegedly" encrypted, (though they did not say with what)....and would be of little use to whoever retrieved it. ( yeah RIGHT!!!!)

We can only hope, but never be sure, that the data was not compromised.

[smacky]

Regardless of the person's job, why was the employee allowed to take a laptop with the names and social security numbers of "17.5 million people" home?

Seems like a pretty glaring oversight in the security plan. You would think "Don't take sensitive information out of the building" would at least make the top ten list of rules.

[Sam]

Regardless of the person's job, why was the employee allowed to take a laptop with the names and social security numbers of "17.5 million people" home?

Seems like a pretty glaring oversight in the security plan. You would think "Don't take sensitive information out of the building" would at least make the top ten list of rules.

I am not sure how many names were on the computer but figures have been reported as high as 26.5 Million vets were on there.
The employee WAS NOT suppose to take the laptop home! As to why he or she did so, has never been answered and says A LOT about security there and in other places.

I am not sure what happened to the employee, I heard they were terminated. Whatever it was will never be enough.
Credit card companies have lost a lot of data on people holding their cards too.

People often get complacent and forget about security or don't think about or seemingly care what the personal data of themselves, let alone on so many people means.
This is an exspensive lesson for everyone,not just the affected vets, to have to pay, for the incompetency of one individual and "the system" itself.

[LaTda]

Raise the bull$!# flag

My info & millions of others is on that laptop.
I've been following this story.
The Gov was about to offer (pay for) credit watching to safeguard "US" for a year AND they were going to pay 1,000 dollars to each affected person..

It's always about money, follow the $

[a1aara]

VA laptop recovered; FBI says data not accessed

Thursday, June 29, 2006; Posted: 1:11 p.m. EDT (17:11 GMT)


Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Thursday there had been no reports of identity theft stemming from the May 3 burglary.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has recovered a stolen laptop computer and hard drive with sensitive data on up to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel.

The FBI said Thursday there is no evidence that anyone accessed Social Security numbers and other data on the equipment.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, in announcing the recovery of the computer, said there have been no reports of identity theft stemming from the May 3 burglary at a VA employee's Maryland home.

The FBI, in a statement from its Baltimore field office, said a preliminary review of the equipment by its computer forensic teams "has determined that the data base remains intact and has not been accessed since it was stolen." More tests were planned, however.

Nicholson said the laptop and hard drive were turned in to the FBI. No suspects were in custody.

"This has brought to the light of day some real deficiencies in the manner we handled personal data," Nicholson said. "If there's a redeeming part of this, I think we can turn this around," he said.

An unidentified person turned the laptop in Wednesday to FBI agents in Baltimore, according Michelle Crnkovich, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore FBI field office.

Agents there conducted the initial forensic examination and were sending the laptop to the FBI in Washington for further tests, Crnkovich said.

Crnkovich said the tipster who turned in the laptop has not been charged and likely was not the thief. She said the FBI still believes the laptop was taken in a routine burglary and that the VA data was not the target. She did not know if the tipster was eligible for the $50,000 reward offered for information on the laptop's whereabouts.

Nicholson urged veterans to keep watch over their financial records until more tests are completed in the coming days. The VA's offer of free credit monitoring for a year is still in effect until subsequent tests are completed, he said.

Newly discovered documents show that the VA analyst blamed for losing the laptop had received permission to work from home with data that included millions of Social Security numbers and other personal information on veterans and military personnel.

Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Indiana, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which was investigating the breach, said he was pleased that veterans may now be able to "breathe a sigh of relief."

"However, this will not diminish our oversight," he said. "We will hold the VA responsible and accountable."

[Moonie]

guess everyone didn't get the memo? a1aara musta missed it, too

Hey Mod's,

What happened to the rule about posting entire articles. I thought we were supposed to just post just the first few sentences and then provide a link to the entire article

[SMLCHNG]

guess everyone didn't get the memo? a1aara musta missed it, too

Hey Mod's,
What happened to the rule about posting entire articles. I thought we were supposed to just post just the first few sentences and then provide a link to the entire article

Some days it's just missed - especially on nights when there's a concert.

[Moonie]

Last update of forum rules was 3/1/06 which also had a link to the rules and regulations of this forum....

guess not all members read annoncements on a regular basis.....or updates to the forum rules...

[Sam]

guess everyone didn't get the memo? a1aara musta missed it, too

Hey Mod's,
What happened to the rule about posting entire articles. I thought we were supposed to just post just the first few sentences and then provide a link to the entire article

Some days it's just missed - especially on nights when there's a concert.

Must be a lot more concert nights and days out there than most of us aware of......... How convienient.

Apparently there are those who do not see the rule being applied to everyone....Some still quite openly break it or ignore it.

Meanwhile back on Topic the press releases from the FBI claim the lappie was turned in by an undisclosed person and "preliminary investigation" shows that no data was copied......
LaTda is quite Right.
I still wonder at what the lawyers cut would have been.

Also look at how convienient the lappie turns up the same day of the hearings before Congress take place. We are still owed for ineptitude of the individual and the system failing us. Doesn't mean we will ever recieve anything. We paid our dues and we can't even get what was promised to us. No real surprise is there? Promises made, promises broken. We don't depend on them, yet they did depend on us.

Why am I not surprised? Once again, the vets have to bite it in the end....The same old, same old for them/us. Look at the vets that were promised "Free Healthcare for Life" and how they got treated. Take a look at the "Atomic Vets" and how they were treated. if you think this is anything new, think again. There are numerous other examples out there, Gulf War Syndrome or Agent Orange for examples.

Once again vets bite the bullet.