Stolen Laptop with Vet Data Recovered

By the Betanews Staff | Published June 29, 2006, 3:31 PM

A laptop stolen in May that contained data and social security numbers of some 26 million plus armed forces veterans and active duty personnel has been recovered, the FBI disclosed Thursday. The agency also said there was no evidence that data on the laptop had been accessed. To date, there have been no reports of identity theft stemming from the incident, and the FBI has no suspects in custody.

"The protection of the sensitive data, and well being of those potentially affected, has made this investigation a number one priority for the investigating agencies," the agency's Baltimore office said in a statement. "A thorough forensic examination is underway, and the results will be shared as soon as possible. The investigation is ongoing."

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Just glad I was in Canada during the Vietnam war and not in the army.

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data wasn't accessed?? what a crock of steaming BS!!! the data was dumped onto another removeable HD and they left the laptop for discovery... oh and by the way.. WTF is important data of millions of veterans doing on a effin laptop??? as someone else said.. it was purposely put on a laptop so it could be walked out the door...

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Loosen the tinfoil hat, there bud. Seems to be affecting you ability to reason.

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Bil makes a good point below, which suggest another, more sinister reason for removing it from the facility. Lots of personal data being thrown around on government laptops and missing these days. The ONLY reason you'd ever put data like this on a laptop is to steal it, period. Maybe if these conservatives were prosecuted for treason and sent to prison for life it would stop this nonsense.

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Here you go again with the conspiracy theories and blaming conservatives. You have got to be one of the most narrow minded people I have encountered on the Internet. It was an ignorant move, probably made by an overzealous employee. I don't know what happened to you that made you so paranoid, pessimistic and cynical, but it is over-the-top ridiculous.

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is it a conspiracy theory if say a few criminals pay someone that works at a company like that to put personnal data on a laptop then let it get stolen, so they can steal peoples identity to make money? doesnt seem like that hard of a plan to hatch up.

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Yes, unless you have proof to back it up, it is a conspiracy theory.

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My work puts personal data on laptops because two (maybe three soon) of our employees work out in the field helping people with disabilities. They're the Outreach "offices".

I agree that the person should not have taken the laptop home. However, you're showing your ignorance when you make claims like you do. And hyberbole usually makes a poor argument.

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It is good they recovered the laptop and data, but they need to deny these people the right to remove this data from the federal facility in the first place. And the supervisors that tried to hang this guy out to dry need to be fired without retirement benefits. There is no reason a data analyst should need to take data home to work on it. The work should be done at the facility.

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