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July 11, 2006 (Washington, DC) A 68-page report released today by the Inspector General’s office is highly critical of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the way in which VA personnel handled the theft of a laptop computer and external hard drive. According to the new report, it was the external hard drive and not the laptop which contained the names and Social Security numbers of 26 million veterans and active duty personnel. "This is a stinging indictment of a security system that was lax to nonexistent," said Sen. Larry Craig, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. "The bungling by those who first became aware of the problem was inexcusable. "The good news is the FBI analysis is complete and they have ‘a high degree of confidence’ that the data was not compromised. Now we must see that VA puts systems in place to ensure that problems like this do not occur again." The Idaho Republican, who serves as Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said that his committee will continue its review of the matter next week. The hearing will be held Thursday, July 20, 2006, at 10:00 a.m., in SR-418, Russell Senate Office Building. Among the witnesses will be Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson and Inspector General George Opfer. "I want VA to spell out exactly what they have done, and what they intend to do, to protect the data of our nation’s veterans," Craig said. According to the IG’s report, the sensitive data was contained in the external hard drive and not the laptop itself. Both were stolen from the home of a VA employee on May 3 and were recovered nearly two months later. Some media outlets have reported that the laptop and hard drive were sold near a subway station located four miles away from the site of the theft. ####
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