WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- Home teleworking for U.S. federal employees is under fire following the enormous Veterans Affairs data theft.
Proponents of policies allowing federal employees to work away from the office are fighting recent claims that teleworking puts sensitive agency data at an unnecessary risk for theft or loss, GovExec.com reported Thursday.
In an attempt to avert future security breaches and to assuage lawmakers' concerns, U.S. Veterans Affairs officials have said they are reviewing the department's guidelines on remote use and access to agency information, following the theft of personal data on more than 26 million veterans from an employee's home.
VA Secretary James Nicholson told congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday that he was attempting to determine how many agency employees telecommute because of the potential damage they could do, not mischievously, but because "they are negligent."
"This is an enormously troubling situation," Nicholson said. "We have people telecommuting all over this country, and we need to get our arms around who these people are and what they're like."
Nicholson said he had directed the VA Office of Information and Technology to publish revisions to the document governing security guidelines for remote access. He has also said the agency is reviewing employee access to sensitive data, which includes telework, and requiring new background checks, GovExec.com said.
VA agency officials acknowledged that the employee had been taking sensitive data home for work purposes since 2003 even though he was not authorized to do so. The data also was not encrypted per agency policy. The agency has since announced that it has started the process of dismissing the employee, and is replacing the leadership of the division in which he worked.
