Secretary Nicholson
announces VA to provide free credit monitoring
WASHINGTON (June 21, 2006) - As part of the continuing
efforts by the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to protect and
assist those
potentially affected by the recent data theft that
occurred at an
employee's Maryland home, Secretary of Veterans Affairs
R. James
Nicholson today announced that VA will provide one year
of free credit
monitoring to people whose sensitive personal
information may have been stolen in the incident.
"VA continues to take aggressive steps to protect and
assist people who may be potentially affected by this
data theft," said Nicholson. "VA has conducted
extensive market research on available credit monitoring
solutions, and has been working diligently to determine
how VA can best serve those whose information was
stolen.
"Free credit monitoring will help safeguard those who
may be affected, and will provide them with the peace of
mind they deserve," he added.
The Secretary said VA has no reason to believe the
perpetrators who
committed this burglary were targeting the data, and
Federal
investigators believe that it is unlikely that identity
theft has
resulted from the data theft.
This week, VA will solicit bids from qualified companies
to provide a
comprehensive credit monitoring solution. VA will ask
these companies to provide expedited proposals and to be
prepared to implement them rapidly once they are under
contract.
After VA hires a credit monitoring company, the
Department will send a detailed letter to people whose
sensitive personal information may have been included in
the stolen data. This letter will explain credit
monitoring and how eligible people can enroll or
"opt-in" for the
services. The Department expects to have the services
in place and the letters mailed by mid-August.
Secretary Nicholson also announced VA is soliciting bids
to hire a
company that provides data-breach analysis, which will
look for possible misuse of the stolen VA data. The
analysis would help measure the risk of the data loss,
identify suspicious misuse of identity information and
expedite full assistance to affected people.
As part of VA's efforts to prevent such an incident from
happening
again, Secretary Nicholson previously announced a series
of personnel changes in the Office of Policy and
Planning, where the breach occurred; the hiring of
former Maricopa County (Ariz.) prosecutor Richard Romley
as a Special Advisor for Information Security; the
expedited completion of Cyber Security Awareness
Training and Privacy Awareness Training for all VA
employees; that an inventory be taken of all positions
requiring access to sensitive VA data by June 30, 2006,
to ensure that only thoseemployees who need such access
to do their jobs have it; that every laptop in VA
undergo a security review to ensure that all security
and virus software is current, including the immediate
removal of any unauthorized information or software; and
that VA facilities across the country - every hospital,
Community-Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC), regional
office, national cemetery, field office and VA's Central
Office - observe Security Awareness Week beginning June
26.
People who believe they may be affected by the data
theft can go to
www.firstgov.gov for more information. VA also
continues to operate a call center that people can
contact to get information about this
incident and learn more about consumer-identity
protections. That toll
free number is 1-800-FED INFO (1-800-333-4636). The
call center is
operating from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm (EDT), Monday-Saturday
as long as it is needed.