A federal government contractor that lost electronic medical records for at least 4.9 million military beneficiaries in a car break-in last month says the thief would need specialized IT training to retrieve any data from the computer tapes.

An employee from McLean, Va.-based Science Applications International Corp., or SAIC, was transferring backup tapes of health record data from one facility in San Antonio to another when the parked car was burglarized, according to SAIC and various news reports. A stereo and GPS device also were stolen when the employee left the car in a downtown parking lot for most of the day on Sept. 13, the San Antonio Express-News reports.

The tapes contained health records for TRICARE, the health plan for active-duty, Guard and Reserve members, military families and retirees, for patients treated or filling prescriptions at San Antonio medical facilities since 1992, TRICARE says in a statement. With several military bases, San Antonio is home to one of the largest active and retired military populations in the country.

"There is no indication that the data has been accessed by unauthorized persons," SAIC's spokesperson said Sept. 30 in a written response to a query. "The risk of harm from loss of the tapes is judged to be low since retrieving the data on the tapes requires knowledge of and access to specific hardware and software, and knowledge of the system and data structure."

The language echoes that in the TRICARE statement. The data included "personally identifiable and protected health information" but no financial information such as bank account or credit card information, according to TRICARE and SAIC.

SAIC says it is working with San Antonio police, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and a private investigator to try to recover the tapes.

TRICARE says individuals affected by the data breach will be notified by mail in four to six weeks. In the meantime, TRICARE suggests beneficiaries monitor their credit and sign up for a free 90-day credit fraud alert through the Federal Trade Commission website.

For more:
- see the TRICARE statement
- sign up for FTC fraud alerts

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