Editorial: Identities at high risk

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 | 7:07 a.m.

Once again millions of Americans face financial havoc because their personal information has gotten into the wrong hands. This time it is veterans, 26.5 million of them, whose names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth now belong to a thief.

A Veterans Affairs employee earlier this month broke the agency's policy and took home with him a laptop computer and external drive. The VA says a burglar broke into his home and stole the equipment, which contains the names of veterans who were discharged after 1975.

The news of the breach, while shocking, was not terribly surprising. Reports of personal information being compromised are on the rise. The main reason is that neither companies nor federal agencies place enough priority on security. And software makers are not sufficiently safeguarding the information, either, enabling access by hackers.

Given how extensively a person's life can be damaged through identity theft, and given the national security implications of a person able to masquerade as someone else, personal information should be managed with utmost precaution.

After-the-fact help is available for affected veterans at www.firstgov.gov, or by calling 1-800-FED-INFO. But Congress should hold hearings and write laws mandating better protections for personal information, so such incidents are less apt to happen in the first place.