According to Veterans Affairs, the FBI has ended its forensic examination of the laptop computer and external hard drive recovered last month with a “high degree of confidence” that the files containing personal data on more than 26 million veterans and military members “were not accessed or compromised.” That is good news, but it should not dissuade Congress from pressing on with plans to ensure the VA cleans up its act in securing personal information. The VA’s Inspector General has just delivered a scathing report over the entire data theft affair, and then there are those five years’ worth of negative reports.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.