Another 150,000 At Risk In NARA Breach

The National Archives and Records Administration has notified an additional 150,000 people that their personal data could have been compromised during a data breach back in March 2009.

Federal Times reports that NARA sent the letters out last month, offering those affected one year of free credit monitoring from the credit-reporting agency Experian. They’ll also get identity-theft insurance and fraud-protection assistance from the company, the government said in a statement.

An external hard drive containing thousands of e-mail messages sent and received by people connected to the Clinton administration went missing from a processing room at NARA’s offices in College Park, Md.

The drive, whose absence was noticed on March 24, 2009, contained thousands of Social Security numbers and home addresses of people who worked at or visited the White House during the Clinton years (1993-2001), including one of Vice President Al Gore’s three daughters. Other information on the drive included that of applicants for jobs at the White House, and details about security procedures used by the Secret Service, according to Federal Times.

NARA sent out 26,000 letters at that time to people whose information may have been compromised. The agency also offered a $50,000 reward for return of the hard drive, but it still hasn’t been found.

Lawmakers criticized the agency for inadequate security procedures involving handling of its data. The missing hard drive didn’t contain any original records, only backups. But California Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said he was told at least 100 people had access to the area where the hard drive was lost or stolen, and that the area often was unlocked.

The Acting Archivist of the United States, Adrienne Thomas, told a subcommittee of the House panel that the investigation into the missing drive is on hold – at the request of NARA’s inspector general – while his office continues its “sensitive” investigation.