LifeLock

Veterans affected by the titanic data breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006 will receive $20 million in a settlement reached yesterday. The data breach exposed the personal information of 28 million former and current service members.

Veterans who are part of the class action suit against the department don’t need to prove they were victims of identity theft as a direct result of the data breach; they only need to show they suffered emotional distress or expenses related to the breach.

News of the settlement comes two days after the revelation that a used MP3 player bought by a New Zealand man contained the names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and other personal information of military members serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The MP3 player also contains military briefings and lists of equipment sent to those countries.

Despite the department’s claim that no identity theft resulted from the 2006 data breach, there has been anecdotal evidence to the contrary. For instance, Earl Laurie enrolled in LifeLock after being notified by the U.S. Navy and the Department of Veterans Affairs that his information was on the stolen laptop that held the records. Shortly thereafter Laurie was notified that someone tried twice to open new credit card accounts using his information; their attempts failed because of LifeLock’s service.

Laurie was so impressed with the identity theft protection he received that he now endorses LifeLock.

For more information about LifeLock and the special services they provide for members of the U.S. military, please visit their website at LifeLock.com. Use the promotional code Defense to receive a discount on their identity theft protection service.