China-based hackers are suspected of breaking into the
computer networks of the U.S. government personnel office and stealing
identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers, American
officials said Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that
data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department had
been compromised.
4 million current and former federal employees may have had
their personal information hacked.
The agency, which conducts background checks, warned it was
urging potential victims to monitor their financial statements and obtain new
credit reports.
U.S. officials believe this could be the biggest breach ever
of the government's computer networks.
"The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how
and why this occurred," the statement said.
An assessment continues and it is possible millions more
government employees may be impacted.
American investigators believe they can trace the breach to
the Chinese government. Hackers working for the Chinese military are believed
to be compiling a massive database of Americans, intelligence.
A U.S. official, who declined to be named because he was not
authorized to publicly discuss the data breach, said it could potentially
affect every federal agency. One key question is whether intelligence agency
employee information was stolen. Former government employees are affected as
well.
"This is an attack against the nation," said Ken
Ammon, chief strategy officer of Xceedium, who said the attack fit the pattern
of those carried out by nation states for the purpose of espionage. The
information stolen could be used to impersonate or blackmail federal employees
with access to sensitive information, he said.
It is not clear what the purpose of the database is.
Employees of the legislative and judicial branches, and
uniformed military personnel, were not affected.
The FBI is now investigating what exactly led to the breach.
"We take all potential threats to public and private
sector systems seriously, and will continue to investigate and hold accountable
those who pose a threat in cyberspace," the FBI said in a statement.
The federal personnel office said "personally
identifiable information" had been breached, though didn't name who might
be responsible.
Source: CNN
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