http://www.washingtonpost.co
m/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042801540.html
By ROBERT BURNS
The Associated Press
April 28, 2006
WASHINGTON -- An intruder gained access to a Defense
Department
computer server and compromised confidential health care
insurance
information for more than 14,000 people, the department said
Friday.
William Winkenwerder Jr., the assistant defense secretary
for health
affairs, said the affected individuals have been advised by
letter
that the compromise of personal information could put them
at risk for
identity theft.
"Such incidents are reprehensible, and we deeply
regret the
inconvenience this may cause the people we serve," he
said in a brief
statement.
The Pentagon established a toll-free telephone number
(1-800-600-9332)
for affected people to call if they have questions. The
computer
server is for people insured under the Pentagon's TRICARE
health care
system.
The type of information that was compromised was not
disclosed in the
Pentagon announcement, but Winkenwerder said it varied and
investigators do not know the intent of the crime or if the
compromised information will be misused.
A spokesman for Winkenwerder, who asked not to be
identified, said the
information included names, Social Security numbers, credit
card
numbers and some personal health information.
Routine monitoring of one of the health care insurance
system's public
servers detected unusual activity, and an investigation led
to the
discovery on April 5 that an intrusion had occurred and
information
was compromised.
As a result, additional monitoring tools were installed to
improve
security of existing networks and data files, Winkenwerder
said.
© 2006 The Associated Press
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