Following the theft of personal information for nearly five million former and current soldiers, the Department of Defense is now being sued by four individuals affected by the incident.

 

The stolen data was contained on computer tapes belonging to TRICARE, the Pentagon’s health care system. But it was security contractor Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) that was in charge of handling the records. The theft occurred on September 14, after an SAIC employee allegedly removed the tapes from a government location and allowed them to be stolen from his or her car in San Antonio, Texas.

 

SAIC, though, is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

 

The Defense Department is accused of failing to properly encrypt the data, and then “intentionally, willfully and recklessly” allowing an untrained individual to access the information.

 

Plaintiffs are seeking nearly $5 billion in damages: $1,000 for each of the 4.9 million individuals who had personal information on the tapes.

 

The stolen data included Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers, in addition to medical details about patients such as clinical notes, lab test reports and prescription information for patients who sought care between 1992 and September 7, 2011.

 

On October 14, the Defense Department announced that it would begin requiring private contractors who handle federal personnel records to take privacy training courses.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Defense Department Facing $4.9B Lawsuit over Breach (by Angela Moscaritolo, SC Magazine)

Lost Backup Tapes Affect 4.9 Million Current, Former Military (by Dan Kaplan, SC Magazine)