 |
A second data breach at the US Office of Personnel Management
has affected 21.5 million people, with the hackers stealing sensitive
information such as Social Security numbers and putting them at risk of
identity theft, the agency announced. Notably, the agency said that this incident is “separate but
related” to the one that saw 4.2 million former and current government
employees personnel data compromised.
Of the 21.5 million
people whose information was stolen, 19.7 million were individuals who had
submitted to federal background checks, which are needed in order to gain
security clearances. The other 1.8 million people were non-applicants, such as
family members of those who were being checked, OPM stated.
OPM said it “determined
that the types of information in these records include identification details
such as Social Security Numbers; residency and educational history; employment
history; information about immediate family and other personal and business
acquaintances; health, criminal and financial history” and more.
RT.com report continues:
Some 1.1 million records
included fingerprint records. OPM added that hackers also got away with
usernames and passwords that individuals used to submit their background
investigation forms. Not just current federal employees were affected, either,
but also former and prospective ones.
Meanwhile, OPM says that
so far there is “no evidence” showing that separate systems used to
store information about health, financial, payroll and retirement records were
affected by the breach.
The department said that
it will also work with other agencies to boost identity theft monitoring,
including by providing identity theft insurance, credit and fraud monitoring,
and more.
Previous reports have
quoted unnamed US officials blaming China for the attack, but the White House
declined to go on the record on Thursday.
"At this point the
investigation into the attribution of this event is still ongoing and we are
exploring all of the different options that we have,” Michael Daniel of
the National Security Council said to Reuters.
The hack has turned out
to much more extensive than was previously believed, with compromised
information dating back about 15 years. OPM said that anyone who underwent a
background investigation since 2000 is “highly likely” to have had
their records stolen.
In response, OPM said it “continues
to take aggressive action to strengthen its broader cyber defenses and
information technology (IT) systems,” partnering with the Department of
Defense, Homeland Security, the FBI and more.
Some high-ranking
lawmakers aren’t buying that explanation, though. After OPM’s announcement,
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that President
Barack Obama should remove the agency’s leadership from their positions.
"After today's
announcement, I have no confidence that the current leadership at OPM is able
to take on the enormous task of repairing our national security," he
said in a statement.
The department was also
criticized by House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
"Since at least
2007, OPM leadership has been on notice about the vulnerabilities to its
network and cybersecurity policies and practices," he said in a
statement to NBC News. “Director Archuleta and Ms. Seymour consciously
ignored the warnings and failed to correct these weaknesses. Their negligence
has now put the personal and sensitive information of 21.5 million Americans
into the hands of our adversaries."
On Twitter, Rep. Adam
Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee said that he was “deeply
disturbed” by the information disclosed by OPM and questioned whether the
agency was being fully honest with lawmakers about the breaches.
Meanwhile Reuters reports U.S. House of
Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday that President Barack
Obama should replace top officials at the federal Office of Personnel
Management following a massive hack of its data.
"After today's
announcement, I have no confidence that the current leadership at OPM is able
to take on the enormous task of repairing our national security," Boehner
said in a statement after OPM announced that millions more people had been
affected in recent cyber-attacks than previously estimated.
Other Republican
lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senator John
McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also called for the
departure of OPM Director Katherine Archuleta.
Archuleta said neither she
nor OPM Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour would be resigning. 
No comments:
Post a Comment