Hackers access personal information on TRICARE servers
By Daniel Pulliam
dpulliam@govexec.com
Hackers gained access to the Pentagon's health insurance information systems, compromising the personal information of more than 14,000 people, the Defense Department announced Friday.
The intrusion of the TRICARE Management Activity public computer servers was discovered on April 5, but no information is available on when it occurred. A department official who requested anonymity said there was a delay of more than four weeks in releasing the information because of the time needed to determine the extent of the intrusion.
The hacked information included databases of names, Social Security numbers, the last four digits of credit card numbers, personal phone numbers, work and personal e-mail addresses and home addresses.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service is participating in an investigation of the incident.
Assistant Defense Secretary for Health Affairs William Winkenwerder said the department responded swiftly to the intrusion, immediately implementing enhanced security controls throughout the network and installing additional monitoring tools to improve the security of data files and networks.
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