VA Worker Had OK for Data Later Stolen - VA Laptop Located

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http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/06/29/D8IHOME00.html

VA Worker Had OK for Data Later Stolen <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=stolen&sid=breitbart.com>
Jun 29 4:15 AM US/Eastern

By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
Lawmakers <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=lawmakers&sid=breitbart.com> say they want to know whether a Veterans Affairs employee was being unfairly blamed for losing veterans' personal information, citing newly disclosed documents showing he had received permission to work on the data from home.

"From the start, the VA has acted as if the theft was a PR problem that had to be managed, not fully confronted," said Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif. "They're trying to pin it on this one guy, but I think it's other people we need to be looking at."

VA Secretary Jim Nicholson and other top department officials were to testify Thursday before a House committee investigating the government's largest computer security breach.

According to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press, the VA data analyst faulted for losing personal data for up to 26.5 million veterans had the department's approval to access millions of Social Security numbers on a laptop from home.

The documents show that the data analyst, whose name was being withheld, had approval as early as Sept. 5, 2002, to use special software at home that was designed to manipulate large amounts of data.

A separate agreement, dated Feb. 5, 2002, from the office of the assistant secretary for policy and planning, allowed the worker to access Social Security numbers for millions of veterans.

A third document, also issued in 2002, gave the analyst permission to take a laptop computer and accessories for work outside of the VA building.

"These data are protected under the Privacy Act," one document states. The analyst is the "lead programmer within the Policy Analysis Service and as such needs access to real Social Security numbers."

The department said last month it was in the process of firing the data analyst, who is now challenging the dismissal.
VA officials have said the firing was justified because the analyst violated department procedure by taking the data home. They also said he was "grossly negligent" in handling sensitive information.

However, Filner noted that the employee had informed supervisors of the theft immediately after the crime, while supervisors waited nearly three weeks to inform the public on May 22. Nicholson himself was informed on May 16.

"The gross negligence in this case are the people above him," said Filner, the acting top Democrat on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=House+Veterans'+Affairs+Committee&sid=breitbar t.com>.

A spokesman for the VA did not have immediate comment Wednesday.
Veterans groups and lawmakers from both parties have criticized the VA for the theft and noted years of warnings by auditors that information security was lax. Some veterans also have filed suit in federal court <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22federal+court%22&sid=breitbart.com>, seeking $1,000 in damages _ or up to $26.5 billion total _ for privacy violations.

Separately, President Bush <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22President+Bush%22&sid=breitbart.com> on Wednesday asked in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., for $160.5 million to help the VA cover the costs of credit monitoring and fraud watch services.

The money would be taken from programs in the departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Labor, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs whose money would otherwise go unused or from programs previously set for elimination, according to Scott Milburn, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget.

The programs included those for food stamp employment and training, trade adjustment assistance for farmers, and health professions student loans.

The VA has spent more than $16 million to set up a call center and to notify veterans by letter. It is spending an additional $200,000 a day to maintain the center.

___
On the Net:
Info for veterans suspecting identity theft: http://www.firstgov.gov or 1-800-FED-INFO

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FBI Says Data on VA Laptop Not Accessed
Jun 29 12:28 PM US/Eastern
By HOPE YEN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
The government has recovered the stolen laptop computer and hard drive with sensitive data on up to 26.5 million veterans and military personnel. The FBI said Thursday there is no evidence that anyone accessed Social Security numbers <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22Social+Security+numbers%22&sid=breitbart.co m> and other data on the equipment.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson, in announcing the recovery of the computer, said there have been no reports of identity theft stemming from the May 3 burglary at a VA employee's Maryland home.

The FBI, in a statement from its Baltimore field office, said a preliminary review of the equipment by its computer forensic teams "has determined that the data base remains intact and has not been accessed since it was stolen." More tests were planned, however.

Nicholson said the laptop and hard drive were turned in to the FBI. No suspects were in custody.
"This has brought to the light of day some real deficiencies in the manner we handled personal data," Nicholson said. "If there's a redeeming part of this, I think we can turn this around," he said.

An unidentified person <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22unidentified+person%22&sid=breitbart.com> turned the laptop in Wednesday to FBI agents in Baltimore, according Michelle Crnkovich, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore FBI field office.

Agents there conducted the initial forensic examination and were sending the laptop to the FBI in Washington for further tests <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22further+tests%22&sid=breitbart.com>, Crnkovich said.

Crnkovich said the tipster who turned in the laptop has not been charged and likely was not the thief. She said the FBI still believes the laptop was taken in a routine burglary and that the VA data was not the target. She did not know if the tipster was eligible for the $50,000 reward offered for information on the laptop's whereabouts.

Nicholson urged veterans to keep watch over their financial records until more tests are completed in the coming days. The VA's offer of free credit monitoring for a year is still in effect until subsequent tests are completed, he said.

Newly discovered documents show that the VA analyst blamed for losing the laptop had received permission to work from home with data that included millions of Social Security numbers and other personal information on veterans and military personnel <http://search.breitbart.com/q?s=%22military+personnel%22&sid=breitbart.com>.

Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, which was investigating the breach, said he was pleased that veterans may now be able to "breathe a sigh of relief."

"However, this will not diminish our oversight," he said. "We will hold the VA responsible and accountable."