Data Theft at Nuclear Agency Went Unreported for 9 Months

A computer hacker stole sensitive information on 1,500 people working for the nuclear-weapons unit of the Energy Department, but neither the theft victims nor high officials were notified for nine months, administration officials acknowledged on Friday at a Congressional hearing.The theft, at a National Nuclear Security Administration center in Albuquerque, involved names, Social Security numbers, birth dates and information on where the people worked and their security clearances.

The leak, on the heels of a much larger breach in the Veterans Affairs Department, is sure to raise new alarms about government's cybersecurity and may provide Democrats more grist to attack the competence of the Bush administration. - nyt