And how can you tell?

[rhu]

Thus speaks the New York Times about the laptop that had been stolen from the VA, and has now been recovered:

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement from its Baltimore field office that it appeared that the data had not been copied or misused.

"A preliminary review of the equipment by computer forensic teams has determined that the database remains intact and has not been accessed since it was stolen," the statement said.

Yeah, right. It doesn't take much to remove the hard drive, do a low-level copy from another computer, and reinsert it, leaving no signs behind. Devices to do that are advertised in mainstream computer magazines all the time (supposedly pitched at law-enforcement agencies).