Veterans Data Stolen

[Bio-T]

What next. A VA employee takes the data home and it is stolen by thieves. I fall into the category of stolen data two ways. Discharged after 1975 and I do have a VA disability. The following is a statement that was contained in the report:

quote:

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The department has come under criticism for shoddy accounting practices and for falling short on the needs of veterans.

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quote:

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Last year, more than 260,000 veterans could not sign up for services because of cost-cutting. Audits also have shown the agency used misleading accounting methods and lacked documentation to prove its claimed savings.

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Veterans Stolen Data

Warning: Don't make this political. If you feel a need to do that, don't post it.

 

[opus1]

I guess like so many other laws, HIPAA doesn't apply to government agencies?

I work in insurance and it would be great to be able to take certain data home to work there rather than stay late and then catch a local train that takes over 90 minutes to get me where I'm going, but HIPAA/Company policy forbids me from doing so....

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

It's just incredible! What else can one say?

 

[Pablo]

Just another idiot that got a job via something other than competency.

Without being political? The section the article is in is called:

Political news

 

[simple_gifts]

Well, the thieves probably didn't know what they got, until now.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

"Well, the thieves probably didn't know what they got, until now."
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I don't know. If you've ever been burglarized, you know that most thieves are pretty discriminating. They don't take what's of little value and might weigh them down. If they back a truck up to the door, that's another story.

 

[Bio-T]

A small tidbit since this story came out. The home was burglarized, but the laptop containing this info was the only thing that was stolen. OK I believe.

 

[jmacmaster]

And in this morning's news I read that the VA waited 2 weeks to inform the FBI. Just another example of the fact that the feds have reached the point where they can hardly do anything right.

 

[michaelc80]

In my opinion the blame lies with whomever decided that data such as that could be loaded onto a laptop and carted out of a secure facility. Not only was the data taken out of a secure facility, it was taken out in an unencrypted state. That level of incompetence should not go unpunished.

It's also quite easy to sniff that data from an unsecured network. Wireless networks and laptops go together at home-chances are that laptop users have a home wireless network. What level of security do you think that provides your data when it's taken home on an employees laptop? So even if the laptop is physically secure, the data is not.

I was staying in a hotel about 3 weeks ago on business. The hotel backed up to a residential development right outside my hotel window. The hotel was hard wired for Internet access, but I was able to pick up an unsecured wireless network on my wireless nic. Anyone with an IQ above room temperature could have tapped into the home network and viewed data on any machine with a little common sense hacking. The wireless network was broadcasting the SSID and no security was turned on. The default SSID was still in place (Linksys). I just shook my head and disabled my wireless nic since I was working on a hard wired network.

 

[Bio-T]

In testimony before Congress, the head of the VA stated that if identities were stolen, the VA did not have the money to compensate the individual Veteran for any monetary loss that is incurred. For the full story:


Stolen VA Data

 

[obbop]

Well, if I'm unable to garner the funds to pay off the Mafia uhhhh IRS.... will they accept as an excuse that I was robbed?