VA reports data breach affecting 7,000 veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs has reported a data breach after discovering a flaw in a patient database managed by a third party vendor providing telehealth services exposed the personal information of more than 7,000 veterans, according to a Federal News Radio report.

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The contractor notified the VA of the potential security flaw Nov. 4, and the subsequent investigation confirmed the breach, according to the report. The flaw has since been corrected.

Only the vendor’s staff and VA staff had accessed the information, which was made available on the Internet, according to the report.

Potentially compromised information included patient names, addresses, birth dates, phone numbers and VA patient identification numbers.

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