However, none of that has any bearing on the original point. We do NOT need to down play this issue, and stating that this is not posing much of a danger to vet’s may have that exact effect. The point that SSN’s are easily accessible is not news to security professionals. So by pointing that out to a reading audience of (I suspect) security professionals, you are not giving us anything earth-shattering. It is not that the SSN’s are out there. The issue is that IT HAPPENED. If that data can get out, so can some stuff that is really dangerous (in fact, the VA has admitted that other data besides SSN’s, etc was on the laptop). The pressure on the VA needs to be kept high.

I sincerely thank you for your service from a brother-in-arms.