Department of Veterans Affairs Data Breach (2016)

Officials with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services are now working with the state Attorney General's Office and state police after a large amount of documents, including veterans' claims, were found in a storage unit. In a statement Friday, DVS confirmed that the documents were uncovered on Sept. 29 in a storage unit belonging to a former employee who worked at the agency's veterans benefits office at McGuire VA Medical Center along Broad Rock Boulevard. According to DVS, agency documents were commingled with personal papers and possessions of the former staff member. The documents have been taken to the department's headquarters in Richmond, and Attorney General Mark Herring has notified Virginia State Police and requested a criminal investigation into the matter. In addition, officials have not determined the exact number of claims records affected, but they said that all the documents appear to be dated between 2011 and mid-2015 and are "exclusively from the DVS benefits office at McGuire VAMC." "We are in the process of reviewing documents and determining the status of all claims as quickly as we are able," John Newby, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, said in a statement. "We are committed to providing additional information to impacted veterans and to the public as we determine the full scope of the situation and how many veterans may be affected." DVS reports the former employee had worked at the agency from January 2012 until Aug. 25, 2015. In early August, officials with the department said they found unfiled claims in the employee's office.