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Clearly, the VA was irresponsible in even permitting that information to be loaded onto a laptop in the first place. That’s the sort of information that should be kept on secured severs. In the future, it probably will be. In order to alleviate potential problems caused by the breach, the government announced that it was going to provide a year of free credit reports and free credit monitoring to all veterans. This would, it was hoped, ease concerns that the theft of the laptop would lead to wholesale identity theft that could plague the vets for years.
That deal is now off. Veterans Secretary Jim Nicholson announced in July 2005 that the plan to offer the free monitoring to veterans was no longer being considered. The explanation offered was that the laptop was found intact, and that computer experts determined that the hard drive had not been accessed or copied. He added that there were, of course, “no guarantees” that the information contained on the hard drive was secure or that no one had obtained a copy. Still, he suggested, it would not be wise to spend upwards of $150 million on protection that probably isn’t necessary.
The VA is creating a new office designed to train employees and establish policies that will prevent the sort of thing that happened in May from happening again. That’s nice, but it doesn’t necessarily protect those who may have already been victimized by the theft. Certain members of the Senate remain unconvinced that cancellation of the proposed financial monitoring program is a good idea. It is quite possible that Congress will take a look at the issue in the fall.
All in all, $150 million is small change to the U.S. Government. It represents less money than is spent in a single day in Iraq. That being the case, it seems like a very small gesture to take care of those who have devoted their lives to protecting the interests of the United States to offer a bit of protection to insure that their personal information isn’t stolen.
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