Wrong TSA! Whew! Had me going!
TSA Loses Hard Drive With Personal Info
May 4 11:04 PM US/Eastern
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Transportation Security Administration has lost
a computer hard drive containing Social Security numbers, bank data
and payroll information for about 100,000 employees.
Authorities realized Thursday the hard drive was missing from a
controlled area at TSA headquarters. TSA Administrator Kip Hawley
sent a letter to employees Friday apologizing for the lost data and
promising to pay for one year of credit monitoring services.
"TSA has no evidence that an unauthorized individual is using your
personal information, but we bring this incident to your attention so
that you can be alert to signs of any possible misuse of your
identity," Hawley wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The
Associated Press. "We profoundly apologize for any inconvenience and
concern that this incident has caused you."
The agency said it did not know whether the device is still within
headquarters or was stolen.
TSA said it has asked the FBI and Secret Service to investigate and
said it would fire anyone discovered to have violated the agency's
data-protection policies.
In a statement released Friday night, the agency said the external—
or portable—hard drive contained information on employees who worked
for the Homeland Security agency from January 2002 until August 2005.
TSA, a division of the Homeland Security Department, employs about
50,000 people and is responsible for security of the nation's
transportation systems, including airports and train stations.
"It's seems like there's a problem with security inside Homeland
Security and that makes no sense," said James Slade, a TSA screener
and the executive vice president of the National Treasury Employees
Union chapter at John F. Kennedy International Airport. "That's
scary. That's my identity. And now who has a hold of it? So many
things go on in your mind."
The agency added a section to its Web site Friday night addressing
the data security breach and directing people to information about
identity theft.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, whose Homeland Security
subcommittee oversees the TSA, promised to hold hearings on the
security breach. She said Homeland Security buildings are part of the
critical infrastructure the agency is charged with protecting.
"We should expect it to be secure," she said.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie G. Thompson, D-
Miss., called the security breach "a terrible and unfortunate blow"
for an agency he said already suffered from low morale.
It's the latest mishap for the government involving computer data.
Last year, a laptop with information for more than 26.5 million
military personnel, was stolen from a Veterans Affairs Department
employee's home. Law enforcement officials recovered the laptop, and
the FBI said Social Security numbers and other personal data had not
been copied.
___
Associated Press writer Ted Bridis contributed to this report.
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