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In wake of identity theft, veterans will get free credit monitoring for 1 year(South Florida Sun-Sentinel (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jun. 22--The government said Wednesday it would provide free credit monitoring to millions of veterans whose personal information was stolen last month in what some electronic security experts have said may be one of the largest such breaches on record. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said the agency would seek to protect veterans and military troops against identity theft after their names, Social Security numbers and birth dates were taken from a department data analyst's home on May 3. The VA has acknowledged it is not close to catching those responsible. Any of the 17.5 million people who are known to have had their Social Security numbers compromised will be eligible for one year of credit monitoring. Officials with the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs said they did not know how many might be from the Sunshine State, home to 1.7 million veterans and about 12,000 National Guard personnel -- one of the largest veteran populations in the nation. The VA has said as many as 26.5 million could be affected by the security breach, although there appears to be some name duplication and the data could include some who are deceased. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said last month that the theft "may be the largest security breach reported in terms of total number of records taken." Courtney Heidelberg, spokeswoman for the Florida VA, said the state has received no reports from veterans whose identities have been used falsely since the theft. Many have received letters from the federal VA, which were to be mailed over a two-week period that began June 3, notifying them of the theft, Heidelberg said. It's uncertain exactly which company will offer the monitoring or how it will work. The VA will take bids and award a contract. Heidelberg said affected veterans should receive letters by mid-August telling them how to enroll. In the meantime, the Broward Veterans Council is echoing the VA's advice: Veterans should carefully monitor their credit card and personal records, and report any discrepancies immediately to the three major credit reporting bureaus and the Federal Trade Commission. Council Chairman Bill Kling says he also hopes the VA will reimburse any veteran who is victimized because of the data theft. "If you lose a lot of money, you deserve to get it back," said Kling, a World War II veteran from Plantation. Intersections Inc., a Virginia-based data monitoring firm, also is continuing to offer data monitoring to any veteran for six months, with a $4.95 processing fee. A few thousand already have signed up, said CEO and Chairman Michael Stanfield. While simple credit checks look at what has already happened to a consumer's credit, monitoring keeps track of any account activity as well as the appearance of personal information on the Internet, Stanfield said. Intersections may consider bidding on the VA contract. Stanfield said veterans should not worry that monitoring won't begin until August at the soonest. "If someone has the data and they are trying to convert it into synthetic identities, it's going to take time," he said. The monitoring is expected to cost the VA millions of dollars, between the contract cost, and notifying and assisting veterans. Consumers usually pay from about $13 a month to more than $100 monthly for credit monitoring, industry experts say. "It's not going to be cheap," Nicholson said at a news briefing Tuesday. "Free credit monitoring will help safeguard those who may be affected, and will provide them with the peace of mind they deserve." The VA also will hire a company for data analysis to look for possible misuse of the personal information. There have been no reports so far of any identity theft stemming from the burglary in suburban Maryland. Veterans groups and members of Congress from both parties have criticized the agency about the theft and noted years of warnings by auditors that information security was lax. The data analyst, who is in the process of being dismissed, had taken the information home, apparently without his supervisor's knowledge. The VA has been criticized for waiting nearly three weeks -- until May 22 -- to notify veterans about the theft. Earlier this month, more than 150 House Democrats called on President Bush to request new money to provide credit monitoring to veterans. Veterans groups have filed suit against the VA, charging that their privacy was violated and demanding $1,000 in damages for each person. On Wednesday, veterans advocates praised the announcement as a good first step. "Any resources expended to address the VA data breach must not be taken from the VA's current budget but rather should be new funds, as veterans and military families must not be punished for the administration's failures," said Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., the top Democrat on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. Material from the Associated Press contributed to this article. |