Veterans Administration Screws 26 Million Vets

This is huge. An idiot Veterans Administration employee took data to their home in Maryland. The data in question was the socials and dates of birth of all of the veterans still alive today. The data was stolen in a burglary.

From Homeland Stupidity Here:

The Department of Veterans Affairs reported Monday that a laptop computer containing the names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of over 26,000,000 veterans was stolen from the home of an employee who had taken the data home without authorization.

In response, the VA is sending the following letter (PDF) to veterans whose names were on the list. It has also published a list of Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) about the data breach, as if they already know what questions will be frequently asked.

I smell a rat in this incident. It is common knowledge that data of this type is extremely valuable on the cyber underground. I would not be surprised to learn that this whole “burglary” was staged. While home invasions and burglaries are a bit more common in parts of Maryland than my home in Virginia, it is still much more rare than, say, breaking into a car to steal a laptop. Im glad they got the top cops on this one and I hope the catch the criminal soon.