Navy, Marine personal records exposed on Web

Personal records for every Navy and Marine Corps aviator or aircrew member who has logged flight hours over the past 20 years have been posted on a public Navy Web site for the past six months, compromising more than 100,000 Social Security numbers, the Navy Safety Center announced Friday.

Investigators are working to determine how the records landed on the Navy Safety Center’s Web site, which officials shut down on Thursday after a member of the public reported finding the full names and Social Security numbers posted. Evelyn Odango, a spokeswoman for the safety center, said the list had been posted since December and appeared to be “inadvertent.”

The security breach is among several data losses involving the federal government in recent weeks, including the loss of records related to more than 26.5 million retirees and active-duty military personnel on a laptop that was stolen in May from a Veterans Affairs employee’s home. The laptop was recovered last month.