http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/07/what_happened_t.html
By Bob Sullivan
July 3, 2006
We have a few more details on what happened to the nation's
most
famous runaway laptop computer during those mysterious two
months it
was missing, courtesy of NBC's Pete Williams. We're
talking about the
computer and hard drive that were stolen from a Department
of Veterans
Affairs employee in May, an incident that made headlines
because the
hardware contained private information on 26.5 million
veterans and
current GIs. Last week, VA chief Jim Nicholson announced in
dramatic
fashion [1] that the prodigal computer had been found, but
details
about the return were sparse.
NBC's Williams has been able to fill in some of the blanks
after
talking to law enforcement officials investigating the
incident.
Both the laptop and hard drive ended up for sale at a black
market
just north of Washington D.C., near a subway station outside
the
Beltway near Wheaton. We're talking about the kind of
market that is
literally run out of the back of a truck, one official said.
Fortunately, a buyer purchased both components at this black
market,
keeping the missing hardware together.
The male buyer, who has not been publicly identified, later
spotted
fliers posted at a nearby supermarket seeking the return of
the
equipment. After matching the serial numbers on the flier
with those
on the equipment, the buyer decided to turn in the
equipment. No
doubt, a posted $50,000 reward helped encourage that
decision.
He had a friend in the U.S. Park Police who brokered the
exchange with
the FBI, Williams was told.
At that point, the FBI ran forensics tests on the equipment
and
concluded the sensitive data - such as veterans' Social
Security
numbers -- had not been accessed. (Read more details about
those tests
here). Knowing more about the secret life of the
disappearing hardware
should make veterans a little more comfortable that their
personal
information was not compromised during the incident.
But not all questions have been answered yet. The obvious
missing
puzzle piece is this: How did the hardware get from the VA
employee's
home in Aspen Hill, Md., to the back of a truck in Wheaton,
about 4
miles away? And what happened during the trip?
[1] http://www.msnb
c.msn.com/id/13613727/
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