Laptop holding veterans' data is recovered

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Social Security numbers and other personal data on 26.5 million veterans and military troops were not copied from a Veterans Affairs computer missing for eight weeks, the FBI said Thursday.
The recovery of the laptop and external drive was a "positive note in this very sad saga," VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said.
"This has brought to the light of day some real deficiencies in the manner we handled personal data," said Nicholson, who made the announcement at a House hearing investigating one of the nation's worst information data breaches.
"If there's a redeeming part of this, I think we can turn this around," he said.
Burglars stole the computer equipment from a data analyst's Maryland home May 3. Law enforcement officials recovered the laptop and hard drive after an informant Wednesday notified the U.S. Park Police that he had heard about a $50,000 reward and knew where they could be found.
The equipment was then turned in to officials in Montgomery County, Md., where the data analyst lives. No suspects were in custody.
The FBI, in a statement from its Baltimore field office, said a preliminary review of the equipment by its computer forensic teams "has determined that the database remains intact and has not been accessed since it was stolen." More tests were planned.
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