NYT: Chinese hackers targeted top-secret US employee files
The New York Times is reporting that Chinese hackers penetrated a US government network, likely going after the files of thousands of workers who applied for top-secret security clearances. The hackers accessed the Office of Personnel Management databases in March before they were detected and blocked, though there's no word on how deep the breech went. Officials did say, however, that they hadn't "identified any loss of personally identifiable information." Though the hacking originated in China, it's not clear if the People's Liberation Army (PLA) or other government spy agencies were responsible. The FBI recently took the unusual step of charging PLA officials (who aren't likely to be tried) because of several brazen attacks. Still, the Chinese have their own beefs against US spies, who are clearly pretty good at hacking too.