WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 03: U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) demands data security from Pentagon
Carol Keller’s nightmare started last December when she was informed that her personal and medical information had been stolen almost four months earlier, thanks to a Pentagon contractor who had left 25 computer tapes in the back seat of a Honda Civic in Texas. Keller finally knew what had caused the fraudulent purchases from her debit account.
Pentagon Health Insurance Program – Tricare
Keller is among the 70,000 military personnel, retirees, and their families across New England who are victims of one of the largest-ever breaches of medical data. Approx. 4.7 million people may be in deep trouble because of this breach. These military families are dependent on Tricare for their insurance.
Victims such as Keller have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking unspecified damages. It is frustrating that Pentagon relies on contractors and outdated computer storage technologies to house and transport personal information.
Representative Edward J. Markey comments:
“The bottom line is that people in charge of safeguarding our service members’ personal data need to transition from the 20th century to the era of iPads,’’ said Representative Edward J. Markey, who is demanding more answers from the Pentagon on its medical privacy policies. “TRICARE had given me no assurance that it is moving toward such a modern system.’’
The contractor – Science Applications International Corp
The contractor receives about $20 billion a year in Pentagon contracts.
Apparently the contractor “has experienced no fewer than six security failures’’ since 2005. These failures include privacy data, the suit alleges, including a break-in at a company facility in California in 2005 in which the Social Security numbers and financial transactions of 45,000 top military and intelligence officials were stolen.
What the Spokesman for Science Applications International Corp had to say?
“We don’t know what specific instances that they are talking about, whether they are SAIC, whether they might be a vendor of some kind to us, and we don’t want to get into a dialogue about pending litigation,’’.
“Reading the data on the tapes would require knowledge of and access to specific hardware and software, which is commercially available, but would also require knowledge of the system and data structure on the tapes,’’.
He further added that the company has no evidence that the information on the computer tapes stolen last year from a San Antonio parking garage was accessed by outsiders and that it would be difficult to decipher the tapes.
The Plaintiffs
Plaintiffs in this case are Ms Keller, the spouse of a decorated war veteran, the 5-year-old daughter of an Air Force officer, and a retired major. According to them their credit cards were canceled without their knowledge for suspicious transactions; unauthorized withdrawals were made from their bank accounts; and telemarketers hound them.
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