Editorial: Theft of records a nightmare

Saturday, June 10, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

The reports are getting worse regarding what was included among the data stolen from the home of a Veterans Affairs Department employee who had the information stored on his laptop computer.

The missing information also contains the Social Security numbers, home addresses and other personal information for about 80 percent of the U.S. active-duty military force. It is not hard to imagine what could happen to these citizens depending on whether the information ends up in the hands of a burglar, a sophisticated identity thief or, in a worst-case scenario, those who seek to attack U.S. military personnel.

According to The Washington Post, federal officials confirmed Tuesday that personal information for 1.1 million active-duty military personnel, 430,000 National Guard members and 645,000 reservists may have been included on the electronic files containing such information on 26.5 million veterans, which were swiped from a VA employee's home last month. The 60-year-old analyst, who had been taking home such data without authorization for three years, has been fired, and his boss has resigned, the Post reports.

But it remains unthinkable that this information was available to this analyst at all - much less available for loading onto a laptop computer, which is easily stolen and sold. One technology expert told the Post that there is "a global black market" for this kind of information.

It not only can allow untold numbers of people to create new lines of credit and accounts in these military personnel's names, but it also can help those who want to harass the U.S. military to locate their families.

These are not the kinds of concerns anyone should be forced to face - least of all, men and women whose total attention should be focused on fighting America's wars. It is bad enough that the U.S. objective in Iraq is foggy and that American troops must consider every passing car or bump in the road as a potential explosive. Now, these brave individuals are supposed to keep track of their credit histories from remote foreign regions and must fret over the safety of loved ones, for whom home may no longer be secure.