http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/42841-1.html
By Mary Mosquera
GCN Staff
12/26/06
President Bush signed into law a $3.2 billion bill that will improve
veterans benefits, health care, the security of their sensitive data
and, when it occurs, its response to a comprehensive breach.
The Veterans Benefits, Health Care and Information Technology Act of
2006, S. 3421, directs the Veterans Affairs Department to notify
veterans promptly in the case of a data breach and to provide fraud
alerts, data breach analysis, reports to Congress, credit monitoring and
identity theft insurance. The bill also supports an Information Security
Education Assistance program, an incentive to give VA the ability to
recruit personnel with the IT skills necessary to meet department
requirements.
The legislation is the result of the theft in May of a VA laptop that
contained the personal information of millions of veterans. It was the
governments largest data security breach.
The bills provisions follow on VAs decision to completely centralize its
IT environment, including enforcement of data security.
Nearly a decade of committee oversight, including 16 hearings, is paying
off with secretary Nicholsons commendable decision to centralize the
management of VAs information technology and security systems, said Rep.
Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), outgoing chairman of the House Veterans Affairs
Committee, who introduced the original legislation to strengthen VA
security.
The VA bill also boosts funds for more clinicians treating veterans for
post traumatic stress disorder as they return from the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, construction of health care facilities and
expansion of tele-health initiatives for rural veterans. It establishes
an Office of Rural Health.
In another IT security-related bill that the president signed Friday,
the Undertaking Spam, Spyware and Fraud Enforcement with Enforcers
beyond Borders Act of 2006 or the U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 2006, S. 1608,
authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to assist and share information
with foreign law enforcement agencies. It provides for procedures for
confidentiality and delayed notification when requesting information
about suspected perpetrators of fraud and protection to organizations
for delivering information.
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Received on Dec 27 2006
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