Another breach: Military laptop stolen

Hardly a day goes by without another report of a stolen computer containing thousands, or even millions, of files. In the latest case, the personal records of thousands of soldiers, employees and their families were potentially exposed after a laptop computer containing the information was stolen over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the military says.

The security breach happened in Clermont, Fla., where the rental apartment of an Army employee with the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Academy was burglarized. Information security experts for the Army say the information was guarded by three layers of security and encryption passwords, so it's unlikely that any data was actually tampered with.

Nevertheless, the computer contained "names and personally identifiable information for slightly more than 42,000 Fort Belvoir Morale, Welfare and Recreation patrons," according to a posting on the website for the base, which is in Virginia.

In 2006, an analyst with the Department of Veterans Affairs lost a laptop computer that contained the Social Security numbers and other personal data for more than 26 million veterans and active duty troops. That incident, along with other major data breaches, prompted a call for protection of personal information. A bill currently under consideration in the Senate would put more protections in place, CNN.com reports.

For more on the latest military data breach:
- see this CNN.com article

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