OPM Hack Digital Body Count: 21.5 MILLION
Every background investigation since 2000.
Early last month, the news hit that the federal government’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had been hacked, compromising the records of millions of federal employees. It was one of the largest thefts of government data ever recorded, and caused a panic amongst current and federal employees.
In the wake of the breach, many experts said that the hack was likely worse than had been reported; it looks like they were right—to the tune of 21.5 million victims.
Via Fox News:
Hackers swiped Social Security numbers from 21.5 million people — as well as fingerprint records and other information from background check investigations — in the massive breach earlier this year of federal personnel files, the government acknowledged Thursday.
The Office of Personnel Management included the findings in a statement Thursday on the investigation into a pair of major hacks believed carried out by China.
“The team has now concluded with high confidence that sensitive information, including the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 21.5 million individuals, was stolen from the background investigation databases,” the agency said of the second breach, which affected background investigation files.
21.5 million is a big number. This makes it feel huge:
Hackers likely stole EVERY SINGLE background investigation form completed by OPM since 2000. Every single one.
— Damian Paletta (@damianpaletta) July 9, 2015
We’re not just looking at one breach here, but a series of breaches. China has publicly denied responsibility for the attacks, but experts believe that what’s happening right now is part of a bigger plan:
A former senior intelligence official also told Fox News that the attack is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader campaign by China to build a massive database that can be used to earmark and index the intelligence for future use. This information is being aggregated, and the level of organization points to backing of Chinese military units.
The numbers are so high because a high-level security clearance requires a review every five years. Each time, the individual must supply three new references — meaning a single official could easily have personal information for over a dozen people in the system.
The extent of, and response to, the breach has already led to calls for the firing of top officials at OPM.
According to a statement released by OPM, the agency has been and will continue to work through their 15 point security improvement plan. They’re also upping their standards with regards to user login authentication, which was cited as a major weak point in OPM’s systems. They’re implementing two-factor Strong Authentication for all database users, and are expanding their continuous monitoring capabilities.
Let’s hope it works, because right now, US security and intelligence is looking like amateur hour compared to what a hacker can do.
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Comments
Only one question remains:
Did they fire the people in charge?
Only one answer:
In the Obama administration, there is no action or behavior that is incompetent or corrupt enough to justify firing a fellow leftist.
Nor is it in their interest NOT to strike a plea agreement with Ed Snowdon who pretty much acted with the same duplicity as these administrators who will get a “pass”. Government protects those that serve government; Not serve those who they are there to protect.
Crap. If it goes back to 2000 that includes me. Not good. But hey at least I’ve got SCOTUScare to look forward to!
Crap.
Me too.
让我们赞美我们的新中国统治者。
Government is one opiate of the people.
If government was only this big-see here>.< then we wouldn't have an OPM addiction.
The Most Transparently Incompetent Administration in History
There’s a not-too-old Russian joke:
It is the time of Stalin, he is traveling in a train and it becomes stuck in the snow.
Stalin says, “fire all the engineers and replace them with the proletariat.”
The train gets moving again.
Time passes.
It is the time of Khrushchev, he is traveling in a train and it becomes stuck in the snow.
Khrushchev says, “bring back the engineers. .. they knew what they were doing.”
The train gets moving again.
Time passes.
It is the time of Brezhnev, he is traveling in a train and it becomes stuck in the snow.
Brezhnev says, “pull down the shades and pretend we are moving.”
When Obama compares himself to Lincoln and Reagan, I have to laugh. He is Brezhnev …
… Obama has pulled down the shades …