Even if nobody would have thought, it seems that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has had problems with breaches in its security system, as an agency computer server was hacked last week. According to the FAA, the hackers obtained access to the names and Social Security numbers of more than 45,000 employees and FAA retirees.

The FAA also announced that all affected employees will receive individual letters to notify them about the breach, as the agency is also moving quickly in order to prevent similar incidents. Hackers accessed 48 files on its computer server, and two of them contained personal information for everyone that was on the FAA’s employee rolls as of the first week of February 2006.

Fortunately, the FAA announced that the affected server was not connected to the agency’s air-traffic control system or other agency operations. However, some sources say this statement is not at all reassuring, but it remains to be seen if they were right or not. It’s strange that the statement from the FAA did not say when the breach occurred or when the FAA learned of it.

Security breaches of this magnitude are not new, as in May 2006, a US Department of Veterans Affairs laptop and hard drive that contained personal data for 26.5 million veterans and active-duty personnel was stolen. This caused the resignation of the VA’s general counsel. In August, a Department of Defense (DOD) laptop was stolen, affecting 30,000 Navy applicants.

Law enforcement authorities are now investigating the data theft, and FAA already said it will offer its full cooperation in order to catch the criminals and recover the stolen data.