More Evidence Jim Nicholson, Va Chief, Should Be Fired!

[Gimpy]

VA chief come under fire for data security lapses


The Associated Press


WASHINGTON (AP) 02/28/07 ? Veterans Affairs officials came under heavy criticism on Capitol Hill Wednesday after auditors reported that the agency, stung by massive data breaches, mostly recently in Alabama, still has gaping holes in its information security procedures.


VA Deputy Secretary Gordon Mansfield also acknowledged that hudreds of thousands of medical providers whose data may have been compromised last month at a VA center in Birmingham, Ala., still have not been notified of their potential risk.


The House Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight held a hearing on the issue Wednesday.


VA Secretary Jim Nicholson has been a target of congressional criticism in the past year over a series of computer security failures that put sensitive personal information for millions of veterans at risk.


In the latest incident, a backup hard drive containing data such as Social Security numbers for up to 1.8 million veterans and physicians was reported missing Jan. 22 from a research site in Birmingham.

That disclosure followed the theft last spring of data on 26.5 million veterans from a VA employee's home in Maryland.

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