VA posts data breaches online

The Veterans Affairs Department (VA) has started posting monthly data breach reports on the Web as part of the agency's ongoing transparency initiative, according to a report from Nextgov.

The July report shows the department lost two PCs, 13 BlackBerry smartphones and six laptops, all of which were encrypted. The VA has drawn renewed scrutiny of its data security practices after losing two unencrypted laptops in April containing the personal information of more than 600 veterans.

VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker has made improving the agency's data security a priority since taking office last year. Baker said the VA has lost 129 BlackBerrys so far this year after losing 189 in all of 2009. VA has about 35,000 of the smartphones in use.

The laptop thefts also recalled the May 2006 incident where a VA employee had a laptop stolen from their home containing data on more than 26 million veterans. The breach prompted an outcry from Congress, a review of VA's data breach procedures, $28 million in notification costs and $20 million to settle a class-action lawsuit.