Oy! Como VA!?

posted by The Vidiot @ 6:43 PM Permalink

So a few weeks ago I got this letter from the VA saying my personal data might have been compromised because they let an idiot employee take home 26+ million records on unencrypted hard drives. The laptop and external HD were stolen on May 3rd. The VA told the public 3 weeks later. They sent the letter almost a month later. On June 21st, during a fit of crocodile tears and congressional investigations, they offered a free credit monitoring service.

I'm sure you saw it on the news. That news was released on a Monday. Today, a Friday, while 'taking out the trash' the government says:

No Free Credit Monitoring For Vets in Database Theft

The Bush administration has decided not to offer free credit monitoring to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel whose personal information was on computer equipment stolen from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs analyst in May.

Rob Portman, the White House budget director, wrote House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) yesterday withdrawing the administration's request for $160.5 million to pay for a year of free credit monitoring and citing the June 28 recovery of the stolen laptop and external hard drive by police. The FBI said it had a "high degree of confidence" that thieves had not accessed the files containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of millions of veterans and active-duty military personnel.

The FBI doesn't have a clue! You don't have to access the records, just copy the disks! Bastids! To put it in perspective, my $450 dollar refurbished laptop has encryption built in.

Once again Bushco has screwed the vets and active duty personnel.