The services firm first has posted a statement on its website acknowledging the lost computer and saying it had launched a comprehensive search and investigation and was working with the VA to notify affected patients.
The computer, used to support the VA’s insurance collections system, went missing from Unisys’ offices in Reston, Virginia, outside of Washington, DC. According to Unisys, the desktop contained data on some 5,000 patients treated at a Philadelphia VA hospital, 11,000 treated at a Pittsburgh center, and another 2,000 dead patients. The company and the VA are looking into whether the computer could have contained data on another 20,000 Pittsburgh patients.
The information in the computer included names, addresses, social security numbers, birthdates, and possibly insurance, claims, and medical information. The computer was password-protected but the data was unencrypted, according to an Associated Press report. In its own statement, the VA said the department, FBI, and local law enforcement are investigating the missing computer.
The news is the latest security embarrassment for the VA, which in May had a laptop stolen from the house of an employee, containing personal data on 26.5 million veterans. The department recovered the laptop in May and the FBI found that the data was in all likelihood not accessed.
