Many Tricare users now learning of Sept. data theft

[unhappycamper]

Many Tricare users now learning of Sept. data theft
The Washington Post
© November 26, 2011

By Steve Vogel

The letter that arrived Saturday at the home of Fred MacLean in Fayetteville, N.C., held bad news: Computer backup tapes containing the retired Army chaplain's personal information with the military's Tricare health system had been stolen.

MacLean is hardly the only one receiving bad news. Letters are being sent this month and next to the homes of all 4.9 million Tricare military beneficiaries whose personal data has been stolen in one of the largest health-data breaches ever reported.

The data on the tapes include names, Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates, phone numbers and laboratory tests, but not any financial data such as credit card or bank information, according to the letter from Science Applications International Corp., a defense contractor for the Tricare Management Activity.

~snip~

The employee from whom the tapes were stolen no longer works for the SAIC, said Guidry, but he declined to say whether his departure was related to the incident.

[BlueIris]

1. Creepy. Such a violation for the victims.

Who knows what the data thieves would want to do with the data.

[CurtEastPoint]

2. Backups are still being done to tape? n/t

[RC]

3. Of course. Nothing else holds so much information.

CD's, Flash drives and other hard drives fall way short for secure and safe backups for a variety of reasons.