Whidbey Island veterans joined their comrades nationwide in heaving a huge sign of relief last week when authorities recovered the purloined laptop computer that contained the Social Security numbers, names, addresses, phone numbers and other vital information on millions of veterans.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson made the announcement Thursday, helping alleviate veterans’ fears that their identities might be stolen. The damage that could be done with all that information is astronomical, from credit card fraud to bank account theft.
It was good news indeed that all that information is back in the proper hands, and Nicholson said there was no indication that the crucial data had been transferred to another computer or otherwise copied. It appears that the thief didn’t know what he had.
Veterans still have to be careful. There’s no guarantee the information didn’t get into the wrong hands, so keep an eye on your accounts and learn how to protect yourself. Call a special VA number at 1-800-333-4636 for information.
Meanwhile, the VA still has a lot of explaining to do. How did it let all that vital information leave a secure area and be taken home by an employee who had it stolen? What steps have been taken to assure it will never happen again? And, finally, who will be held accountable for this fiasco?
