StevenA:
QUOTE
The weakness is the Social Security system. This could have been stolen off a network or in other ways.
That's true.
The incident seems to have been a common burglary - they didn't know what they got. Still, it highlights how you should protect your laptop by all means. I think it's silly the VA bureau announced it and brought so much attention to it. If the laptop were securely password-locked, a common thief may not put so much effort into hacking into it. If he were a tech-savvy hack, he may try to pry out the hard drive.