Released: June 29, 2006

Stolen laptop with veterans’ info recovered

Source: Associated Press [International Herald Tribune]

The U.S. government has recovered the stolen laptop computer and hard drive containing sensitive data for up to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Thursday.

Nicholson said law enforcement officials were still investigating to determine whether data from the equipment, which included names, birth dates and Social Security identification numbers, had been duplicated or utilized in any way.

So far, he said there have been no reports of identity theft stemming from the May 3 burglary at a VA employee’s home.

“There is reason to be optimistic,” Nicholson told a House committee at the opening of a hearing on one of the worst breaches of information security. “There is not a certainty, but we have to remain hopeful they have not been compromised.”

Nicholson offered no immediate details on how the laptop was recovered. He acknowledged that the burglary “has brought to the light of day some real deficiencies in the manner we handled personal data.”

“If there’s a redeeming part of this, I think we can turn this around,” he said.

Read Full Article: Stolen laptop with veterans’ info recovered