Even though data breaches are so, like, last summer, and we've moved through hedge fund corruption and on to pretexting or options backdating as the hot button business page issues of the day, this story is worth noting. The House Government Reform Committee report released on Friday reports that since 2003, 19 U.S. Government agencies have reported at least one incident in which personal identifying information has slipped out of their possession. But - and here's the kicker - many of the agencies have reported hundreds of such incidents and the individual incidents themselves have porentially exposed millions:

"Taken as a whole, the agency reports outline hundreds of instances of data breaches involving sensitive personal information since January 1, 2003," the report said. "The reports show a wide range of incidents, involving employee carelessness, contractor misconduct, and third-party thefts."

The number of individuals affected in each incident ranges from one to millions, but in many cases the agencies don't know what information was lost or how many individuals potentially could be affected, the report said. Only a few of these incidents have been reported publicly, and it's unclear in many cases whether affected individuals have been notified or whether remedial action has been taken, according to the report.

And the good news is....this information is still at risk with no great improvements in data security or procedures on the horizon. Check out the full story here, via Computerworld.

-- MDT