Information About the Recent Cybersecurity Incident at the US Office of Personel Management
The federal government is notifying millions of employees as it works to assess the impact of a massive data breach involving the agency that handles security clearances and employee records.
A foreign entity or government is believed to be behind the cyber attack. U.S. officials are investigating whether Chinese hackers were involved, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Within the last year, OPM has undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture, adding numerous tools and capabilities to its networks. As a result, in April 2015, OPM became aware of the incident affecting its information technology (IT) systems and data that predated the adoption of these security controls. Since the incident was identified, OPM has partnered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine the impact to Federal personnel. And OPM immediately implemented additional security measures to protect the sensitive information it manages.
A congressional aide familiar with the situation, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to discuss it, says the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department were hacked. A second U.S. official who also declined to be identified said the data breach could potentially affect every federal agency.
“DHS has shared information regarding the potential incident with all Federal Chief Information Offices to ensure that all agencies have the knowledge they need to defend against this cybersecurity incident”
The White House was considering a public announcement of the breach Thursday night or Friday morning, the second official said. The OPM is the human resources department for the federal government, and issues security clearances. Dow Jones reported that a government source called the breach one of the largest thefts of government data ever.
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