I guess China stealing sensitive stuffs from the U.S. is still going on.
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China-based hackers are suspected of breaking into the computer networks of the US government personnel office and stealing identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers, American officials said.
The Department of Homeland Security said on June 5 in a statement that data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department had been compromised.
"The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred," the statement said.
The hackers were believed to be based in China, said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.
Collins, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said the breach was "yet another indication of a foreign power probing successfully and focusing on what appears to be data that would identify people with security clearances.''
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington called such accusations "not responsible and counterproductive.''
"Cyberattacks conducted across countries are hard to track and therefore the source of attacks is difficult to identify,'' spokesman Zhu Haiquan said. He added that hacking can "only be addressed by international cooperation based on mutual trust and mutual respect.''
A US official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the data breach, said it could potentially affect every federal agency. One key question is whether intelligence agency employee information was stolen. Former government employees are affected as well.
"This is an attack against the nation,'' said Ken Ammon, chief strategy officer of Xceedium, who said the attack fit the pattern of those carried out by nation states for the purpose of espionage. The information stolen could be used to impersonate or blackmail federal employees with access to sensitive information, he said.
The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources department for the federal government, and it conducts background checks for security clearances. The OPM conducts more than 90% of federal background investigations, according to its website.
The agency said it is offering credit monitoring and identity theft insurance for 18 months to individuals potentially affected. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents workers in 31 federal agencies, said it is encouraging members to sign up for the monitoring as soon as possible.
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US suspects China in government data breach - The Times of India
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China-based hackers are suspected of breaking into the computer networks of the US government personnel office and stealing identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers, American officials said.
The Department of Homeland Security said on June 5 in a statement that data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department had been compromised.
"The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred," the statement said.
The hackers were believed to be based in China, said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.
Collins, a member of the Senate intelligence committee, said the breach was "yet another indication of a foreign power probing successfully and focusing on what appears to be data that would identify people with security clearances.''
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington called such accusations "not responsible and counterproductive.''
"Cyberattacks conducted across countries are hard to track and therefore the source of attacks is difficult to identify,'' spokesman Zhu Haiquan said. He added that hacking can "only be addressed by international cooperation based on mutual trust and mutual respect.''
A US official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the data breach, said it could potentially affect every federal agency. One key question is whether intelligence agency employee information was stolen. Former government employees are affected as well.
"This is an attack against the nation,'' said Ken Ammon, chief strategy officer of Xceedium, who said the attack fit the pattern of those carried out by nation states for the purpose of espionage. The information stolen could be used to impersonate or blackmail federal employees with access to sensitive information, he said.
The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources department for the federal government, and it conducts background checks for security clearances. The OPM conducts more than 90% of federal background investigations, according to its website.
The agency said it is offering credit monitoring and identity theft insurance for 18 months to individuals potentially affected. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents workers in 31 federal agencies, said it is encouraging members to sign up for the monitoring as soon as possible.
...
US suspects China in government data breach - The Times of India
