VA Loses Data on 26 Million Veterans
In the latest laptop data theft, the Veterans Administration says that 26.5 million veterans' personal information is at risk because of a burglary at an employee's home.
According to the VA, the employee, a data analyst residing in suburban Maryland, saved the information on disk "in violation of policy," and took the data home with him to use on his laptop. The employee's home was burglarized, and the laptop was stolen.
The unidentified analyst was placed on leave "pending review," according to Veterans' Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, who said the employee's home had been burglarized on previous occasions. The VA has launched an investigation in conjunction with the FBI and local law enforcement agencies, Nicholson said.
