Rather than provide individual credit monitoring for the millions of veterans and military members whose personal data might have been compromised by the infamous May 3 data theft, Veteran Affairs has contracted ID Analytics of California to conduct industry analysis “to detect patterns of misuse and determine whether or not there is any suspicious activity specifically related to this computer equipment theft,” says a VA statement. The Administration—and some lawmakers—has balked at paying for individual credit monitoring, since the FBI reported “high confidence” the data had not been breached. The ID Analytics work, so far, would not cover the latest data loss.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.