Veterans Affairs Loses Personal Records of 26.5M Americans

Asaf Buchner | May 23, 2006, 10:54 AM

Talking about online banking security… Maybe it’s better to take a closer look at what is happening offline… The WSJ has an article today [subscription] about the theft of a laptop computer and an external drive containing the personal records of 26.5 million US veterans. This, of course, is yet another episode in a saga of very similar events. And yet, the number is overwhelming. If this information reaches the wrong hands, it can lead to an identity theft disaster. So far, there is no evidence that the computer was stolen for that purpose, but in the criminal circles where this type of information is traded, a database like that is probably worth millions of Dollars. The frustrating aspect in these events is that the consumers are helpless … there is nothing really they can do to prevent it from happening. They can, however, try to minimize the damage after the discovery of the event. The government has set up a website and a help-line (800-333-4636) to support concerned consumers.