SAIC lawsuits consolidated in D.C.

Court brings together eight lawsuits that targeted the theft of computer tapes by a SAIC employee.

UPDATED: This story has been corrected to reflect the fact that the tapes were stolen from a car belonging to an SAIC employee.

Eight lawsuits against Science Applications International Corp. and other defendants for security breaches have been consolidated into a single case to be heard in Washington, the Washington Business Journal reports

The lawsuits seek $4.9 billion in damages stemming from the theft of computer tapes from the car of an SAIC employee. A company spokeswoman told Washington Technology that SAIC requested the consolidation and that there is no evidence that the information on the tapes has been accessed.

The thefts occurred in September and the tapes held private health information including Social Security numbers of 4.9 million active duty and retired service members and their families. Other defendants include Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and the Tricare Management Activity, which oversees the military health insurance system, according to the Business Journal.