The federal government is notifying 4 million current and former federal employees that their personal data may have been compromised in a data breach involving Office of Personnel Management the agency that handles security clearances and employee records.
The intruders in the Office of Personnel Management case gained access to information that included employees’ Social Security numbers, job assignments, performance ratings and training information, agency officials said.
A foreign entity or government is believed to be behind the cyber attack. U.S. officials are investigating whether Chinese hackers were involved in the breached the computer system of the Office of Personnel Management in December. The largest breach of federal employee data in recent years it was the second major intrusion of the same agency if done by China in less than a year.
This is the second significant foreign breach into U.S. government networks in recent months. Last year, Russia compromised White House and State Department e-mail systems in a campaign of cyberespionage.