The ill-fated US Department of Veterans Affairs has been hit by another data breach. This time a desktop computer with private data on 38,000 military veterans has gone missing. Experts at InfoWatch point out that it is the fourth leak from the agency in recent months and, it appears, the same kind of thefts are going to keep on occurring.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has reported yet another leak of personal data belonging to former servicemen. The announcement comes just a few days after police arrested two teenagers for the May 3 theft of a VA laptop that contained data on 26 million veterans. This time VA Secretary Jim Nicholson says a desktop computer containing the private data of up to 38,000 veterans has gone missing. Federal authorities are investigating, but it is still unclear what has happened to the computer.
“It appears that the federal agency has learnt nothing – that is now at least the fourth data breach in recent months. It is obvious that the organization still has no normal security policy that stipulates the encryption of private data and provides safeguards against leaks. It turns out that the resignation of the agency’s information security director was in vain. Nothing has changed since he left. I think changes will only occur when the head of the VA leaves his post,” says Denis Zenkin, marketing director at InfoWatch.
Source: KWTX
