Backup tape theft exposes active, retired military members

The personally identifiable health information of nearly 5 million current and former military personnel residing in Texas was recently breached when backup tapes containing the data were stolen from a car in San Antonio.

The tapes were taken from the car of a Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) employee on September 14, before they could be transferred to a more secure location. SAIC is a science, engineering and technology applications firm that was moving the data between federal facilities.

Other items were also stolen from the car, leading to the belief that the thief was not specifically after the medical records and was, more than likely, unaware of the information stored on the tapes.

"Retrieving the data on the tapes would require knowledge of and access to specific hardware and software and knowledge of the system and data structure," said an SAIC statement.

Still, the incident brings up questions of medical records management and highlights the importance of data protection measures when handling sensitive information. Even in transit, experts agree, all necessary security measures should be taken to secure and safeguard confidential data.

And while it is not believed the information has been misused, that doesn't mean that it won't be, Dwayne Williams, associate director of the Technology Research Group at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told Reuters.

"If somebody intentionally went after this data, they are going to have the right hardware and software to read these files," he said. "This equipment is available and can be purchased on the internet."

The patient data contained on the tapes was collected between 1992 and September 7 of this year. All 4.9 million people whose information was stored on the tapes are either current or active military service members or relatives of a member.

Overall, it seems that many organizations across the nation should be taking a closer look at their medical records management programs. According to the latest research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), more than 5.4 million Americans were affected by data breaches involving health information in 2010. Overall, there have been more than 30,000 data breaches reported to the HHS since 2009. The agency released those figures in a recent report to Congress.