According to Veterans Affairs, the FBI has ended its forensic examination of the laptop computer and external hard drive recovered last month with a “high degree of confidence” that the files containing personal data on more than 26 million veterans and military members “were not accessed or compromised.” That is good news, but it should not dissuade Congress from pressing on with plans to ensure the VA cleans up its act in securing personal information. The VA’s Inspector General has just delivered a scathing report over the entire data theft affair, and then there are those five years’ worth of negative reports.
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.