The fact that the stolen computer equipment has been recovered (see above) should not dissuade officials from correcting the “basic deficiencies” that led to this data loss, says Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Buyer adds that his committee’s charge is to “make certain essential changes are made that will ensure this does not happen again.” His counterpart in the Senate, Larry Craig (R-Idaho), would extend the effort because, he says, “serious changes are needed in data protection government-wide.” Craig also has expressed relief that, if the FBI can confirm the security of the data, “we will be able to save taxpayers millions of dollars.” So far, VA has spent more than $14 million and the Administration was poised to request more.
Two of the Air Force’s semi-autonomous drones flew air combat maneuvers coordinated by an “AI pilot,” or mission autonomy software, in a test Oct. 26, a first for the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.