U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka today pressed Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson for answers about the data theft fiasco that compromised the personal information of more than 26.5 million veterans.

"I am especially concerned with the manner in which VA handled this investigation," said Senator Akaka.. "Although the breach occurred more than three weeks ago, Congress and the public were only notified of the incident this week."

Senator Akaka said VA security procedures, and the lack thereof, is of special concern. He says common and simple data safeguarding practices would have prevented the loss of information. "For example, VA could have scrambled Social Security numbers based upon an encryption formula, whereby access to files that translate scrambled Social Security numbers is only possible with special authorization. This procedure was not followed in this instance, and we need to know why."

Senator Akaka also expressed concern about how the data was taken out of VA, stating " I am also troubled as to how an employee who is not authorized to take home the private information of more than twenty-six million veterans was still able to do just that."

Senator Akaka cautioned that the security breach could just as easily have involved other departments and agencies. He urged other departments and agencies to examine their policies on classified and confidential data and the proper use and security for such data.

Questions posed by Senator Akaka also revealed that the data stolen did not involve veterans discharged before 1976 except for those with a service-connected disability.