Veteran’s Affairs
I got a letter the other day from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. It was concerning the laptop that was stolen when that moron took it home with information on it that wasn’t supposed to be on it, Things like a person’s name, date of birth, social security number, and in some cases their spouse’s information, as well as some disability ratings. It was originally thought to have only about 50,000 people’s information on it, but it turns out that there was a lot more information than that. So the VA apparently did a blanket mailing to everyone who has served in the military and is still alive. Everyone I know who has served in the US military, regardless of the service or the time they spent in, got “the letter”. There was no need to explain, everyone knew what it was.
A typical conversation:
Me: Did you get The Letter?
Other: Yup.
The one thing that I appreciate is the steps the VA is taking to help everyone who served in the Armed Forces with regards to this matter. It’s basic counseling that would be given if the possibility of ID theft exists, credit bureau phone numbers, etc., but it’s still necessary.
And a friend who works at the VA hospital here said that they are not letting any laptops leave the hospital anymore, regardless of the job inconvenience it might cause, and all people who work/volunteer at the VA apparently have to go through additional information security training to prevent something like this from happening again.
