The FBI has not discovered the hacker who broke into the Virginia Department of Health Professions’ computer, nor has it discovered what private information was retrieved, Virginia’s Secretary of Health and Human Resources Marilyn B. Tavenner said yesterday. Questioned intensely by members of the House Appropriations Committee, Tavenner said the FBI believes it will take another two weeks to complete its investigation.

The state is still trying to determine who hacked into the Department of Health Professions’ computer system and how much data was obtained, Secretary of Human Services Margaret Tavenner said today. She told a concerned House Appropriations Committee that the lead investigator, the FBI, hopes to complete its investigation in two weeks. The FBI was called in because the hacker is seeking to extort money from the state, she said.

Hackers may have infiltrated computers containing licensing information on doctors, nurses and other professions overseen by the Virginia Department of Health Professions. By yesterday afternoon, all 36 computer servers storing the state agency’s records were shut down after a midday message popped up on some computer screens that implied the system was being hacked.