Data on 28,000 sailors and their families posted on web

AP Story in the Buffalo News. This data included SSN’s so it is serious stuff. The Navy News Service also has an article.

The Navy has begun a criminal investigation after Social Security numbers and other personal data for 28,000 sailors and family members were found on a civilian Web site.

The Navy said Friday the information was in five documents and included people's names, birth dates and Social Security numbers.

Apparently, some are trying to use this to make a case against outsourcing*. That is not the crux of the problem. Just look at the VA data breach—the person involved was an internal employee.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said he had asked Rumsfeld two years ago about the implications of federal agencies outsourcing data collection and processing activities. While there is no indication that outsourcing was the problem in the Navy case, Markey said he wants to know what effect outsourcing has on the security of information on military personnel.

*Maybe he means offshoring which is different than outsourcing? I’m a little tired of the finger pointing. I prefer to work on solving the problem. Watch this blog for an announcement coming next week on what we at Truston plan to do about this.

Update: Navy personnel, for more information on the new data breach, visit the Navy Personnel Command's Web site, www.npc.navy.mil.