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US military medical records stolen in burglary
By John Leyden
Posted: 03/01/2003 at 12:37 GMT
The medical and social security records of more than 500,000 retired and
serving US military personnel were stolen in a break-in last month.
Sensitive information, including names, addresses, social security numbers,
and some claims information with diagnoses of US servicemen, was obtained
when thieves stole computers from the corporate offices of TriWest
Healthcare Alliance in Phoenix, Arizona on December 14. CRN reports that
TriWest is a contractor involved in a Defense Department project to store
the medical records of military personnel and their families on computer.
Defense Criminal Investigative Service, FBI and other law enforcement
agencies are investigating the break-in. The DoD has placed a notice on its
Web site apologising for any inconvenience the theft might cause. It has
set up a help-line on 1-800-424-9098 to deal with individual concerns.
Last week TriWest sent out letters to all the beneficiaries of its policies
whose information was potentially compromised.
It also posted a reward of $100,000 for anyone supplying information
leading to the arrests and conviction of those responsible for the crime.
It's not known if anyone's personal information has been misused following
the crime.
TriWest CEO Dave McIntyre's suggestion that the crime is an identity theft
against US patriots has drawn a scornful response from Rob Rosenberger,
Vmyths editor and Air Force reservist.
Rosenberger resents TriWest's attempts to wrap itself in the flag following
what he believes to be a common burglary. You can read his rant here. ®
http://212.100.234.54/content/55/28720.html
