Stolen laptop the source of VA breach

The William Jennings Bryan Dorn VA Medical Center has alerted 7,405 veteran patients of a recent breach involving an unprotected laptop containing their personal information.

Patient names, birth dates, weight, race, respiratory test results and partial Social Security numbers were all potentially compromised data on the laptop, which has yet to be found. According to WISTV.com, the laptop’s connected devices have since been protected, although it’s not clear whether that means encrypted or password-protected.

The VA says that no information has been misused and is offering a free year of Equifax Credit Watch services. “Any time a veteran’s personal information may be compromised, we take the matter very seriously,” said Rebecca Wiley, the Medical Center director, to WISTV.com. “We are reaching out to each veteran who may have been impacted.”

The notification letter explains the VA’s plan about the incident: An Incident Response Team, including the Dorn VA Police and the Office of the Inspector General, immediately began an investigation, which is ongoing. To prevent any future occurrence, all laptops contained on medical devices have been physically protected and the Dorn chief of staff notified clinical staff to securely store and purge all personally identifiable information from medical devices.