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hackers Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on July 09, 2015 7 Comments
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:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 26, 2015 11 Comments
Revelations of the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) massive data breach seems to get worse by the day. Thursday we discussed that per the FBI, the number of people who's personal data was compromised is upwards of 18 million. OPM's estimates were around 4 million. In a hearing Thursday, it was revealed that OPM Director Katherine Archuleta hadn't bothered to speak with the FBI about their numeric discrepancy. Archuleta was also unwilling to answer whether or not prescription and other sensitive health-related data was accessed by hackers. The White House has also been implicated in this bottomless pit of fail. Wednesday it was disclosed the White House intentionally hid the extent of the OPM hack. Friday, Fox News reported that according to a senior U.S. official, the data breach included access to "adjudication information;" information used to determine security clearances.
...The Daily Beast, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that the hackers, believed to be based in China, gained access to so-called "adjudication information," sensitive facts compiled by U.S. investigators about government employees and contractors who apply for a security clearance. The "adjudication information" goes beyond what is required of employees filling out a routine clearance questionnaire, known as Standard Form (SF) 86. The Obama administration admitted earlier this month that information in those forms had been compromised by the hackers. If the theft of "adjudication information" is confirmed, whoever carried out the hack would have access to a list of federal employees and contractors who are likely targets for blackmail or engagement in espionage against the United States.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on June 25, 2015 11 Comments
Only in Washington D.C. would someone like Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Katherine Archuleta still have a job. In a hearing Thursday, Archueleta was questioned by an annoyed Sen. McCain over the agency's massive data breach, now believed to be much worse than originally reported. Fox News reported Thursday that the White House intentionally hid the extent of the OPM hack:
The Obama administration reportedly concealed the true amount of information compromised by a cyberattack on the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for several days after the initial disclosure of the hack, according to a published report. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that the day after the White House admitted that hackers had breached personnel files, OPM publicly denied that the security clearance forms had been compromised despite receiving information to the contrary from the FBI. The administration did not say that security clearance forms had likely been accessed by the intruders until more than a week had passed. A OPM spokeswoman denied the claims, telling the Journal the agency had been "completely consistent" in its reporting of the data breach.
Thursday, Senator McCain grilled Archuleta, attempting to get solid answer about the scope of the OPM data breach. Aruchuelta had few answers and often deferred to colleagues in other federal agencies. On the Sony hacking by China, Archuleta had no answer. On the issue of prescription and other health related data breaches, Archuleta also had no answer. It's almost like there's a theme here...

Posted by Bruce Carroll on July 13, 2014 3 Comments
In May, the Obama Administration announced a crackdown of Chinese cyber espionage. The grand jury indictments charged five Chinese People’s Liberation Army members with hacking the computers of a number of U.S. businesses and organizations. Now the U.S. government alleges that Boeing was the target in a new round of Chinese cyber spying.
Su Bin, the owner of a Chinese aviation-technology company with an office in Canada, conspired with two unidentified individuals in China to break into the computer networks of U.S. companies to get information related to military projects, according to charges unsealed yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles. Su advised the two others in China on what data to target, according to the charges. Su’s alleged co-conspirators claimed to have stolen 65 gigabytes of data from Boeing related to the C-17 military cargo plane, according to the criminal complaint. They also allegedly sought data related to other aircraft, including Lockheed Martin’s F-22 and F-35 fighter jets.
As was the case with the indictments in May, there appears to be direct evidence linking Su Bin and the Chinese government.
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