officeofpersonnelmanagement
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Federal employees stole data from Homeland Security
Three employees of the inspector general's office for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are accused of stealing a computer system that contained around 246,000 employees' personal data. That information included names, social security numbers and dates of birth, USA Today reports, and one of the suspects is also said to have had in their possession around 159,000 agency case files. The data breach was reported to DHS officials in May and acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke decided in August to notify the employees whose information was included in the stolen data.
FBI nabs Chinese national linked to massive OPM hack
The FBI has arrested a Chinese national from Shanghai linked to the massive data breach that hit the Office of Personnel Management back in 2014 to 2015. Feds took the chance to nab Yu Pingan when he flew into the Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday to attend a conference. He's now facing charges under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and accusations of conspiracy to defraud the United States. His circumstances and connection to the OPM breach are a bit convoluted, though, and the court papers filed to indict him didn't even mention the event.
OPM hackers took more fingerprint data than first thought
It's safe to say that the Office of Personnel Management data breach was already bad news for government workers, but things just got a bit worse. The agency now estimates that the intruders took the fingerprints of 5.6 million people, not the originally determined 1.1 million. Yes, that's five times more than first thought. Officials are quick to note that this digit data won't be as useful to the hackers as the other sensitive information leaked through the attack (fooling a fingerprint reader requires some skill). However, there's a concern that the thieves could find a way to misuse those prints -- and it's not as if you can change your fingers once they've been compromised. While there's no immediate reason to panic if you've worked for the feds, there could be additional trouble down the road. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
US will pay over $133 million to protect OPM data breach victims
That massive data breach at the US Office of Personnel Management is going to cost the country a lot more than you might think. Officials have awarded ID Experts a contract to protect the 21.5 million affected government workers against identity theft. The arrangement will cost the government at least $133.3 million, and options could bring its value to as high as $329.8 million. Suddenly, Sony's identity protection offer following the 2011 PSN breach seems like small potatoes. And that's just part of a smaller effort to mitigate the effects of data breaches -- the General Services Administration has handed out a separate $500 million contract for responding to these kinds of attacks.
White House may find more data breaches following security 'sprint'
When investigators discovered that the US Office of Personnel Management had suffered a massive data breach, the White House kicked off a 30-day cybersecurity "sprint" in hopes of boosting its defenses and checking for vulnerabilities. Well, that mad dash is over -- and the government might not like what it found. Chief Information Officer Tony Scott tells Reuters that there's a "realistic chance" that the feds will have word of more intrusions when they share details on July 20th. That kind of discovery won't be completely surprising given how much the US has come under attack, but it could make the OPM breach just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
OPM director steps down after hacks affected more than 20 million
In the last year the federal government's Office of Personnel Management has been hit by at least two separate attacks by hackers. The first one that came to light affected the info on some four million people, while another has apparently seen sensitive background check info on more than 20 million people fall into the wrong hands. While OPM director Katherine Archuleta pledged yesterday to stay on and lead efforts to secure the department's systems, today ABC News and The Hill report Archuleta handed in her resignation to President Obama.
Hackers in giant federal breach got 30 years of worker info
Just how bad was the hack that compromised the info of 4 million US government workers? Exceptionally bad, if you ask anonymous officials talking to Reuters. They understand that the Office of Personnel Management breach exposed data going as far back in time as 1985, which could reveal what about 1.9 million staffers did after they left federal employment. It's not certain exactly what was taken, but the hack may have exposed bank info, birthdays and Social Security numbers -- the kind of sensitive content that could lead to breaches elsewhere.
