Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Cybercrime

Huge Hack of US Government Data Affected 21.5 Million

Hackers who breached US government databases stole personal information from background checks of 21.5 million people, officials said Thursday following an investigation into the massive attack widely blamed on China.

Hackers who breached US government databases stole personal information from background checks of 21.5 million people, officials said Thursday following an investigation into the massive attack widely blamed on China.

An update from the government’s Office of Personnel Management said those affected were 19.7 million who underwent a background investigation, and 1.8 million others, mostly spouses or cohabitants of applicants for government jobs.

The massive figure adds to the gravity of the breach, which prompted a series of hearings in Congress and widespread criticism of the state of US cyber-defenses.

Officials said last month 4.2 million personnel records were breached in a separate attack affecting current, former and prospective federal employees.

OPM director Katherine Archuleta said 3.6 million of those whose background checks were stolen were also in the group whose personnel records were breached, thus bringing the number of individuals affected in total to 22.1 million.

The investigation relates to “the second of two separate but related cybersecurity incidents” affecting federal databases, Archuleta told reporters in a conference call.

She said that in addition to sensitive social security numbers, the attackers likely obtained data on health, financial, criminal and family history of people who sought government jobs requiring a security clearance. Some 1.1 million fingerprints were also stolen.

An OPM statement noted that for anyone who underwent a background investigation in 2000 or afterwards “it is highly likely that the individual is impacted by this cyber breach.”

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Archuleta said there was “no information to suggest any misuse” of the data, but that the government would be offering free monitoring to those affected to guard against fraud or identity theft.

No comment on attackers

Officials in the call declined to comment on the assertion that China was behind the massive breach, even though intelligence chief James Clapper said last month that Beijing was “the leading suspect.”

Michael Daniel, cybersecurity coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said that “the investigation into the attribution of this is still ongoing… and we’re not yet prepared to comment” on who was behind the attacks.

But Daniel added that “just because we are not doing public attribution does not mean we are not taking steps to deal with this.”

Andy Ozment, an assistant secretary of Homeland Security, said however that the attacks came from “the same actor, moving between different networks.”

He said the initial breach was discovered in April this year, but that the intruders were likely present on the network from May 2014.

An inter-agency task force has been conducting a forensic investigation since the breaches were disclosed in June.

Archuleta faced hostile questions from lawmakers at several congressional hearings but defended her record, saying new systems she implement helped discover the breaches.

Some analysts have cited evidence pointing to China and have said the breach appears to be part of a wide-ranging intelligence operation which could gather sensitive data for recruitment, blackmail or extortion.

The White House said the incident underscores the need for new cyber-security legislation.

Written By

AFP 2023

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Discover strategies for vendor selection, integration to minimize redundancies, and maximizing ROI from your cybersecurity investments. Gain actionable insights to ensure your stack is ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

Register

Dive into critical topics such as incident response, threat intelligence, and attack surface management. Learn how to align cyber resilience plans with business objectives to reduce potential impacts and secure your organization in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Register

People on the Move

Software giant Atlassian has named David Cross as its new CISO.

Dan Pagel has been named the new CEO of risk management and remediation firm Brinqa.

The City of Phoenix has promoted Mitch Kohlbecker to the role of Chief Information Security Officer.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.