Potential Identity Theft Victims Notified in Wake of National Archives and Records Administration Breach

In March 2009, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) discovered that a hard drive containing personally identifiable information of people who worked for — and interacted with — the Clinton administration was missing. As an initial measure, NARA sent letters to more than 26,000 people affected by the lost hard drive, and in December 2009, it warned 150,000 more people.

NARA also has come under fire from lawmakers over this data breach, issued a set of questions and answers last May about the data breach. The NARA inspector general also is investigating the missing hard drive. The IG has yet to release its report publicly.

It goes without saying that even the federal government is not immune to data breaches. Something as simple as a lost hard drive could turn into a devastating situation for many innocent people. Feel free to check out the Federal Times coverage of this story.