Theft of Veterans' Personal Information, and Department of Veterans Affairs Information Technology Reorganization: Issues for Congress

Publication Date: June 2006

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Media, telecommunications, and information; Military and defense

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Abstract:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently reported a security breach in its cybersecurity system that resulted in the loss of veterans' personal information, including names, birthdates, and Social Security numbers. According to the VA, at this time there have been no reports of identity theft resulting from the loss of the data, and the agency has announced that it will provide one year of free credit monitoring to veterans whose information was stolen. This loss of data has raised several important issues for Congress, including providing immediate relief to veterans that may be affected by the breach of data, as well as reorganization of the VA information technology (IT) system so that such incidents may be avoided in the future. This report will be updated as events warrant.