Chinese hackers are suspected of a breaking into U.S. government computer networks and stealing millions of personnel files. The penetration occurred in the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department and, the Associated Press reports, identifying information of at least four million workers was taken. The Wall Street Journal says an anonymous government source described the breach as “as one of the largest thefts of government data ever seen.”
“A U.S. 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,” the AP reports. “The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources department for the federal government, and it conducts background checks for security clearances.”
“The hack was the second major intrusion of the same agency by China in less than a year and the second significant foreign breach into U.S. government networks in recent months,” the Washington Post notes. “Russia last year compromised White House and State Department e-mail systems in a campaign of cyber-espionage.”
